Dot Hack Curse
by Kite1763
Summary: Without any money, Kite couldn't play The World. But then a strange email came from CC Corp telling him he was the winner of a contest that let him play for free! There he met the other contest winners, and everything was fine. That is, until the red wand
1. Prologue

I don't own .hack. I wish I did, but I don't. You should know this all by now.**

* * *

**

**P****ROLOGUE**

**A girl in a white dress floated silently down the deserted hallway. She brushed the hair out of her shining blue eyes so that she could see better in the darkness. At the end of the corridor, a woman in white with a glowing wand in her right hand stood waiting.**

"**Helba..." the girl said softly. "Is it time already?"**

"**Yes," said the woman to the girl. "You must select heroes once again. The Eight phases fell to the blades of Kite and Blackrose, but they are not gone for good. I can feel their presence stirring. There is a dark force arising, and its name is Skeith."**

* * *

Yeah, it's short. Oh, well. 


	2. Chapter 1: Enter The World

Yippee! First full-length chapter! Woot! Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER 1**

**ENTER THE WORLD**

A boy slowly sifted through his e-mail, not finding anything other than junk.

"GET A GREAT MORTGAGE DEAL!"

"SAVE ON MEDICINE!"

"GET OUT OF DEBT AND STAY OUT!"

Finally, he saw a subject that caught his eye.

"COME JOIN US IN THE WORLD!"

He'd heard about The World from his friends at school. It was an MMORPG, or Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. It was an amazing game, and it was supposed to be really cool. If the boy could have played it, he would have, but it was so expensive that he couldn't afford it. Even though he knew that he couldn't play The World, he figured he could at least see what the message had to say. He clicked open the email.

Dear User,

We at CC Corp are pleased to inform you that you have been chosen as one of the winners of the Populate The World contest! You and four other lucky winners are receiving free copies of The World through mail! We know that you will enjoy adventuring in The World, and we hope you have fun!

CC Corp

The boy was so excited that he jumped up from his seat and nearly knocked his computer over. A week later, sure enough, the free copy of The World came in his mail. He ran up to his room and installed it. It came with some desktop images and BGM's. Of course, there were only three images and only one BGM, so he set it to those and saw that he had no new mail. He clicked the icon that read, "The World" and saw a screen that showed a pretty city with a river and a bridge, and had three words, "Log In" "Board" and "Quit". There was nothing on the board, so he clicked Log In and found himself at a character creation screen. It gavehimall these different things to fill out, and it took a while. First, there was username, so for that, he just put Jiryu (his e-mail address) and then below that it said character name. He thought about his name for a while, then decided on Kite.

_Pronounced Kee-Tay,_ he thought to himself, hoping people wouldn't mistake him for a child's toy. It was the name of the .hacker hero, Kite the Twin Blade. He wasn't going to be a Twin Blade, though, or else people might think he was a wannabe. Next was character class. There were six classes, Twin Blade, Long Arm, Heavy Blade, Heavy Axeman, Blademaster, and Wavemaster. He immediately ruled out Twin Blade, and he couldn't stand to be a Heavy Axeman. His friends said that recent additions to the program stated that Heavy Axeman were so strong physically that they really didn't even need to use magic. So, because of his love of magic, he couldn't be that class. He decided to stay away from Blademaster, because there were already two great players who were Blademasters and if he turned out famous, people would think, "Oh, there's that guy, Kite." "Who cares? He's not as good-looking as Balmung" or something like that. Long Arms were cool, but if he met up with his school friends online, it wouldn't be a balanced party because his friend Hao's character was a Long Arm. Plus, after hearing Hao describe the physical attack skills of Long Arms, the only one he really liked was Repulse Cage. So that left Heavy Blade and Wavemaster. He was about to choose Heavy Blade because Wavemasters couldn't use physical attacks, plus they didn't have very much health. Then he thought of something. Why was the reason that he didn't want to be a Heavy Axeman? Because he liked magic so much! So why not be a character that focuses on magic? Plus, the data in the game was changed by the system administrators so that Wavemasters were the only class that could use Summon Spells, the most powerful spells in the game! He immediately chose Wavemaster. The rest of the character creation was all about appearance, hair, skin, eyes, clothes.

His character had shoulder length black hair, and bright green eyes. He had light skin, and he had two green markings shaped like scythes on his cheeks. He wore a black long-sleeved shirt, and black fingerless gloves that had rectangles cut out in the center of the back of the hand. He wore dark blue long pants, and brown boots. He also had a brown cape-like thing extending from his waist down to his feet.

It also allowed him to choose his starting weapon and armor. For his head armor, he had to choose the Bandana. His body armor was forced into being the Leather Coat. His hand armor was again chosen for him, being the Wrist Band, and his foot armor had to be the Sandals. For a weapon, he had to think for a moment. He eventually chose the Iron Rod, giving him the Gan Rom spell.

When he was finished, he pressed save and a message came up, saying, "PUT ON VIRTUAL HELMET NOW" so he did. He saw himself flying through a void, with stars and colors. It was absolutely beautiful. Then he saw a scrap of cloth float upward. He looked down, and saw several holes in his clothes. Soon, new scraps of clothing were flying up from the bottom of the void, and they stuck to his body, slowly forming his character's clothing! It was like his real self was being torn away and left behind, while his character was forming around him! It was a cool feature. Suddenly, he saw words in front of him.

DeltaServer

Aqua Capital Mac Anu

He was standing in a city, the one he'd seen in the Log In screen. It was much more beautiful in person. He saw four other players standing next to him, all looking lost. There was a female Blademaster, a male Twin Blade, a female Long Arm, and a male Heavy Axeman.

The Blademaster had red hair going down to her waist and slightly tanned skin with brown eyes. She wore a black body suit, and and a purple piece of translucent cloth with stars and moons painted on it in silver and gold tied down the front of her body. She wore a black piece of cloth tied around her waist that held her sword, and black boots. She had cat ears springing up from the top of her head, and a purple moon painted on her forehead.

The Twin Blade had almost peach colored skin, and his hair was black and ear length. He had three black x's written on his face, one on his forehead, and one on each cheek. He wore a wide-brimmed hat that shaded his eyes. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt and a pair of tight white pants. He wore black boots and had a red cape coming from his shoulders down to his back. His eyes were crimson.

The Long Arm had pale skin and wore a blue dress with a pink line zig-zagging down the front. She wore blue high heels, and had blonde hair stretching down to her knees. Her eyes were the same color blue as her dress, and she had no markings on her face, but had a curving pink line on her left ankle.

The heavy axeman was the shortest of them all, with brown spiked hair and small, light blue eyes. His loose T-Shirt was a pale green and his knee-long shorts were forest green. He had white shoes and wore a pair of bright green gloves that extended halfway up is forearms. He had a blue mark on his left cheek in the shape of a cat, and his skin was tanned.

He approached them.

"Are you the other winners of the contest?" he asked them. He realized that he had no idea how to talk in this game, but when he spoke his computer picked it up and put it into the game.

"Well, I was," said the Blademaster. "I'm not sure about the rest of you."

The rest all confirmed that they were indeed the winners of the contest.

"Cool," said Kite. "Let's give each other our member addresses."

That was what they did.

"I'm Kite," he told them.

"I'm Michoru," said the Blademaster.

"The name's Suzaku," said the Twin Blade.

"My name is Magora," the Long Arm said.

"You can call me Akazu," said the Heavy Axeman.

"Well, we know each other's names," said Magora. "So let's form a party and go adventuring."

"Why don't we pick up some items first?" Suzaku suggested.

"We just started playing," said Akazu. "We don't have any money yet."

"Let's just go adventuring and hope for the best," said Michoru.

"Ok, but who'll be Party Leader?" asked Kite.

Everyone looked at him. He got the point.

"Fine..." he said. He put them all in his party and found a basic area.

"Delta Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field!"

And they warped.

* * *

I don't want to beg, but please review!

BTW, these characters are people me and my friends made up. Kite is mine, Michoru is my sister's, and Akazu, Magora and Suzaku were created by my friends. So if you think that anyone but Kite is stupid, blame them. If you think Kite is stupid, then blame me. Also, I hope you don't htink it's cliche to have my character be a wavemaster. We actually made these up when we were playing a game, and we made them up long before I'd even considered writing a fanfic about them.


	3. Chapter 2: The Girl in White

Second chapter! La la la la la! Sorry about that. Anyway, if you didn't like the last chapter, things get more interesting here.

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER 2**

**THE GIRL IN WHITE**

They arrived in a sunny, bright grassland. A few rocks sat on the ground here and there, and the dungeon entrance stood right in front of them.

"Well, this is dull," said Michoru. "There's nothing here but a staircase and some talking plants!"

"Those are grunty foods," said Akazu. "You use them to raise these little things called grunties once you reach Theta Server and beyond. They're supposed to look like pigs, but I've obviously never seen one myself. Once they're full grown you can ride them around on the fields of areas. We should take them. This kind of grunty food is called a Mandragora."

They each took a Mandragora.

"Where do we go next?" Suzaku asked. "My map is completely empty except for the dungeon entrance and a weird water drop thing."

"We need a Fairy's Orb," said Magora. "But we didn't have any money so we couldn't buy them."

"Aren't Wavemasters supposed to have some special skill which has the same effect as a Fairy's Orb?" Michoru asked Kite, looking at his staff.

"Yeah," he said. He raised his staff and then thrust it into the ground again, creating a shockwave. All of the sudden, four large yellow dots appeared on their field maps.

"The magic portals," said Suzaku. "Let's go get some Experience Points, shall we?"

And with that, he set of for the nearest portal. The rest followed. When they finally reached it, a small Goblin popped out.

"Everyone, Skills!" Kite shouted, and the party followed. They ran for the monster, but Michoru was the first one there.

"Crack Beat!" she shouted, jumping in the air, and bringing her sword down onto the Goblin with incredible force, slicing it in half and killing it instantly. They each gained 60 EXP from the battle. They went to the next portal, and out came another Goblin. But this time things went a bit differently. Before he even called out a chat command, Kite held his staff above his head.

"Gan Zot!" he called, and slammed the head of the staff onto the ground. A small crack in the earth followed from his position all the way to the Goblin. Once the crack reached the monster, several stone columns rose from the earth and struck the Goblin from below, causing death. Again, 60 EXP was assigned to each player.

At the next portal, another Goblin appeared. This time, Kite figured that his party had enough strength to defeat it without using skills. So they all charged and struck the creature with their weapons. Even Kite, the Wavemaster, joined the melee combat. But right before it was killed, the Goblin struck. It cut through Akazu's arm, then again into his gut.

"Akazu!" Kite yelled. "It's all right! I can heal you! Repth!"

Akazu's health was fully restored, and he ran into the battle and sliced the monster in half.

"I'm sorry I let that happen, Akazu," said Kite. "I should have put the party on Skills. Anyway, at least we know to always do that in the future. I hope you're not too mad at me."

"No," said Akazu. "I'll forgive you. It wasn't even your fault. It was all because of that Goblin."

"But I did screw up by not setting the party to Skills," said Kite.

"Oh, quit blaming yourself!" Akazu bursted out. "It pisses me off! What happened wasn't your fault, so stop telling yourself it was!"

And with that, Akazu turned away and strode to the next portal. The portal contained yet another Goblin, and after this portal was activated, a screen came up, saying, "ALL FIELD PORTALS OPEN".

"Skills!" Kite called. "I'll cover with healing!"

This time, Magora was the first to the portal.

"Triple Doom!" she called, and jumped into the air. When she towered high over the Goblin's head, she spun her spear around her body, then brought it down onto the Goblin. The Goblin's colorless body fell to the ground.

"Well, we've cleared the field of all portals," said Michoru. "What do we do now?"

"How about we go to the Spring of Myst?" Suzaku suggested. Everyone stared blankly at him.

"You know, the water drop thing I mentioned earlier?"

This piece of information didn't help the situation.

"Well, while I was installing the game, I decided to read the guide that came with it. There was a small section near the back about these things called Springs of Myst. When you go up to them, you can throw in a weapon or piece of armor and then this guy called Monsieur will pop out. He'll ask you if you've lost a Golden Axe or a Silver Axe. If you say neither, then he'll either upgrade or weaken the equipment, depending on the weather in the field. This place is partly cloudy, so if we throw a weapon in, then it'll be strengthened by two levels!"

"That sounds great," said Akazu. "But we each only have one weapon. It won't let us throw it in. Let's just go to the dungeon and hope we find some weapons there."

So they all descended the steps into the dungeon.

They arrived in a man-made underground stone cave. It was cold.

"Hey, guys," said Kite. "Don't you think it's strange that we can feel cold down here? I mean, this game is only virtual. We shouldn't feel anything."

"CC Corp probably just added this as a feature a while ago," said Magora, "you know, to be more realistic."

Kite figured she was probably right, but he still felt uneasy. They walked through the door to the first room. There, they saw a girl in white walking through the room, looking lost.

"Um, hello?" Akazu called out to her. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," said the girl.

"Are you wounded? I can heal you, if you want," said Kite.

"I don't need healing," said the girl. "But there is something you need to do."

"What?" asked Michoru.

Suddenly, a large figure appeared in behind the girl. He was extremely tall, and humanoid, but there was something different about him. First of all, his legs didn't bend. They had no knees. And also, he had a ring around his head. Then the strangest of all was that where all of his joints were, there was just air! All of his limbs were just floating! There was no connection! The figure held out his left hand, and a blue and green form appeared around his wrist. It grew larger and larger, until it snapped forward and several dark blue beams shot out and flew toward the girl. But the colors on the screen were suddenly inverted, and everything froze. No one could move. The figure and the girl vanished.

"You guys, I really think we should leave," said Kite. "That wasn't a natural occurrence. We should get out of here as fast as we can."

"You're just scared," said Suzaku. "We're going to stay here."

"Why are we stuck with the most stubborn person in The World?" Michoru asked them.

"I wish I knew," said Magora. But nonetheless, they walked down the corridor, to where it forked. They took a right, coming into a room that was empty except for a small chest containing a Speed Charm, which they gave to Akazu because he couldn't cast magic. They went the other direction, coming to a magic portal. Out came five Deadly Moths.

"Skills!" Kite called out.

"Crack Beat!" screamed Michoru, jumping into the air and taking a huge chunk out of her moth's HP.

"Triple Doom!" said Magora, jumping and bringing the spear down onto the moth.

"Axel Pain!" screeched Akazu. He held his axe above his head and then spun once, bring down the axe onto the moth, which killed it.

"Saber Dance!" cried Suzaku, slashing horizontallytwice with his two swords and then slashing diagonally upward, finishing by spinning and slashing forward. The moth no longer flew.

"Gan Zot!" shouted Kite. The columns rose again, but the moth didn't die. Because he didn't have any more SP, he let the rest of the party finish the moth. They gained an overall 300 EXP from the battle. In the next room, there was nothing but a staircase leading deeper into the dungeon. They ran through the first door, though they found nothing. The room had three other exits, so they took the west one first. There was a portal, but it was only two Deadly Moths and one Goblin.

"Alright, here's the plan! Magora and Akazu, you take one of the moths! Michoru and Suzaku, you take the other moth! I already know that my magic isn't powerful enough to kill a moth in one shot, so I'll get the Goblin and then after that I'll heal! Let's go!"

The party did as they were told. Kite's Iron Rod gave him the Gan Rom skill, so he used that to save SP, because Gan Zot used twice as much SP as Gan Rom.

"Gan Rom!" he called out, and a wind began to blow as he moved his staff. The wind spun in a circle and became a tornado. The tornado was so strong that it pulled rocks out of the ground, which then all struck the Goblin, who died quickly. Kite then watched his party members, ready to use Repth at any time.

His friends attacks were missing frequently, probably because the moths were flying. One of the moths struck Magora.

"Repth!"

Magora was back on her feet and striking the monster continually. Eventually, the moths died, but it took a while. They opened the treasure chest at the end of the room, and found a Resurrect, which Kite took because he would be doing the most healing. They went to the passage across from them, and inside found a portal, but it just contained a chest, which hid a Mage's Soul, which was also given to Kite.

Finally, they went to the last passage in the cross-shaped room. There was a large stone statue floating behind a chest.

"The Gott Statue..." said Magora dreamily. "I never imagined it would be so beautiful..."

She walked over and opened the chest. Inside were five pieces of Yellow Candy. They each took one, when the screen flashed and made a buzzing noise. They were suddenly teleported to a place they had never been before. They were standing on a stone platform, and the sky above them was green. The girl appeared.

"Please, take this," she said to them, handing them a book. "I need you to have this. It's incredibly important that you get this. You will need it."

A red wand with a cross on the head appeared behind her, and her arms were thrust out to the sides and it looked like she couldn't move. The strange creature appeared again, and it raised its hand. The same strange, glowing presence appeared, and grew larger, then popped out with the blue beams flying forward.

"Wait!" Kite called out to her. "What's your name?"

"My name is..." the girl began, "Aura."

The girl was bound, so the beams struck through her, and a yellow glow surrounded her. She screamed, then vanished.

The creature aimed his hand at the others this time, but before the presence even appeared, a tall woman wearing white teleported into the area.

"Hello," she said. "You should be glad that I was watching this area and saw you enter. Now, let's take care of him shall we?"

"We can't fight that thing!" Michoru protested. "We're only level one!"

"Really," said the woman. "Then there's only one thing to do."

She raised her wand.

"Run!" she said, and they teleported out of the area.

* * *

Was that to cliche? Just telling you, this is not a knockoff of .hack/infection. It is quite different. You need to see how the story unfolds though. So stick around! And review!


	4. Chapter 3: Sora

On with the third chapter, not a lot I can say without giving everything away. So, read on!

**

* * *

CHAPTER 3**

**SORA**

They arrived in Aqua Capital Mac Anu.

"I just want you all to know that it is very lucky that you escaped that situation," said the woman in white.

"Can I just ask you something?" asked Akazu.

"Of course," said the woman.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, excuse me," said the woman. "I forgot to tell you my name. I am Helba."

"What was that thing that you just saved us from?" asked Magora.

"I can't tell you now, but you will find out soon enough," said Helba. "But you are going to have to open that book that Aura gave you."

"Why?" asked Suzaku.

"You just will," said Helba, getting irritated. "I assure you, you will know when the time is right. In the meantime, you should all go to Delta Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground."

"Excuse me," said a voice. "But I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. If you don't mind, can I come to that dungeon with you?"

They turned and saw a girl with dark skin and brown hair with a large sword on her back.

"You're a Heavy Blade, aren't you?" asked Kite.

"Sure am," she said. "I'm Mimiru. So, can I come with you or what?"

"Ok," said Suzaku. "We could use a Heavy Blade anyway. This way we'll have one character of every class in our party."

Mimiru gave them all her member address. They all gave her theirs. Kite invited her to join the party, and they were about to warp when suddenly, Helba shouted at them, reminding them to buy items.

"Oh, yeah!" said Suzaku. "I was so caught up in the game that I totally forgot about that!"

They all sold their Yellow Candy and spent their money on different things. Kite bought Mage's Souls and Resurrects and Health Drinks. Michoru bought a new piece of hand armor. Magora bought a lot of Fortune Wires. Akazu bought mostly scrolls. And Suzaku bought new blades. Mimiru was already stocked up on items because she had spent so much time playing.

They went to the Chaos Gate, and Kite put in the keywords. They teleported.

They arrived in front of a large stone cathedral.

"Wow, this is beautiful," said Magora.

"It's strange, though..." said Kite. "It's not like a normal field."

"It's ok, there aren't any monsters here," said Mimiru. "I've been here before."

She strode into the cathedral, with the rest of the party following. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside, and there was a figure standing near the stained glass window at the other end.

"Sora, what are you doing here?" asked Mimiru.

The figure turned around, and drew his two swords. He jumped forward. He attacked Mimiru, but she managed to dodge.

"Ok, I have an idea!" said Kite. "Mimiru, you're closer to his level than us, so you attack him in melee combat! The rest of us will hang back and use magic!"

"But Kite, I'm a Heavy Axeman!" Akazu reminded him. "I can't use magic! Should I go into melee combat with Mimiru?"

"No," said Kite. "You're much slower than he is, and also, you're much weaker. You can still cast Repth, right? Then you can stay and heal Mimiru when she gets hurt! If anyone dies, I'll cover the resurrecting! Also, Akazu, you can use the occasional scroll, too! But don't get too caught up in casting magic or we'll all die before you know it!"

Mimiru slashed and slashed but it was no good, Sora kept dodging! Once, he even stood on her sword and ran up the blade, then struck her in the shoulder!

"Vak Kruz!" cried Magora, causing several fireballs to form in the air around Sora. The fireballs then crashed into him! It didn't do very much good though.

"Juk Rom!" Michoru screamed, and a tornado filled with leaves flew upward,barely damaging Sora.

Sora suddenly disappeared. But he didn't gate out, or else three rings would have passed down his body. Suddenly, Kite saw hisHP bar empty. He managed to turn around, and saw one of Sora's knives in his back. His body grayed, and he fell to the ground, dead. He suddenly felt himself high in the air, looking down at the scene. He was a ghost! Mimiru was about to use a Resurrect on him, but Sora quickly cut her down, too. That meant everyone who had Resurrects was dead! Sora got rid of Magora, Suzaku, Akazu and Michoru. They found themselves at Aqua Capital Mac Anu again. Helba was still standing by the Chaos Gate.

"Helba, why did you send us to get killed by that maniac?" Akazu wanted to know.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen," she replied. "I knew that he was there, but I was going to have you open the book, and... Well, anyway, there was a serious data corruption that was blocking the signal I was sending. I didn't know he was being controlled."

"What was he being controlled by?" asked Michoru.

"The thing that attacked you at Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field," answered Helba. "I've heard many rumors about people falling into comas while playing this game. This was because of Data Drain. A young boy playing as a Twin Blade player killer was knocked into a coma a while back. That must have been him."

"I remember that guy," said Mimiru. "He killed BT like, 87 times. It was ridiculous. All he wanted was her member address. But who would want to go adventuring with him anyway?"

"I don't know," said Suzaku. "But I'm logging out for a while. I'm tired."

That was true for all of them, so they logged out and rested.

* * *

I hope that wasn't bad... If it was just tell me and I'll fix it... anyway, thanks for reading this far...


	5. Chapter 4: Wavemaster

Yay! Fun new chapter! I never have anything to say! Woo and yay! OK, this is getting ridiculous. Just read it. I'm really not insane. If I were in a straightjaket could I be writing this? NO!

**

* * *

CHAPTER 4**

**WAVEMASTER**

It was Friday the next day, and Kite woke up early as he normally did on school days. But at school, he couldn't get his mind off of The World! It was like a disease, slowly infecting his mind and body so that he couldn't break away from it. That day, at lunch, he ate withhis friends,Hao, Rumiko, and Shikito.

"I finally played The World last night," Kite told them. "It's great."

"Really? Awesome!" said Hao excitedly. "We should adventure together today after school!"

"Yeah!" said Rumiko. "That would be fun!"

"What class are you?" asked Shikito.

"Wavemaster," Kite told them.

"Cool!" said Rumiko.

"What are you guys again?" Kite asked.

"I'm a Long Arm," said Hao.

"I'm a Heavy Axeman," said Rumiko.

"I'm a Heavy Blade," said Shikito.

"Have you made any friends online yet?" Rumiko asked him.

"Yeah," said Kite. "Their names are Michoru, Suzaku, Magora, Akazu, and Mimiru."

"Whoa, wait a sec!" said Shikito. "You know a person named Mimiru?"

"Yeah," Kite replied.

"_The _Mimiru?" Shikito continued. "The one who cleared Lambda Calmina Caldericala Altar?"

"Um, I think so," said Kite doubtfully. "She's a Heavy Blade, and she's got dark skin and brown hair. If you want, I can introduce you when we get online tonight."

"Yes!" Shikito said. "I'd love to meet Mimiru!"

"Ok," said Kite. "I'll see what I can do."

That night, Kite turned on his computer and checked his mail. He had a message from Mimiru.

**Dear Kite,**

**I'd really like to meet you in Theta, Rejecting Oblivious Wavemaster. There's something I want you to see.**

**Mimiru**

_That worked out nicely, _he thought. _I can just bring all of my friends to this dungeon, and we can meet Mimiru._

He logged in, and saw three characters standing by the Chaos Gate. One was a boy with long black hair and a spear in his hand. One was a girl with red hair tied in a ponytail and an axe in her hand. The last was a boy who was heavily armored and had a sword in his hand.

"Hao! Rumiko! Shikito!" Kite was so glad to see them. "Wow! Your characters are impressive. Anyway, I've got to go to this dungeon, Theta, Rejecting Oblivious Wavemaster. Mimiru e-mailed me and said she wanted to meet me there."

"I'm up for it!" said Shikito.

"Ok, I can't actually access Theta Server yet, so someone else has to be the party leader," said Kite. "What about you, Hao? Do you want to be party leader?"

"I guess so," said Hao. "We're off!"

And so they warped. A message came up, saying:

ThetaServer

Highland City Dun Loireag

"Wow, this place is great," said Kite. The city was set on a high mountain, with frozen mountain air and wooden planks connecting the several plateaus that made up the town.

"No time to gape, my friend," said Shikito. "We've got to go."

"Theta, Rejecting Oblivious Wavemaster!" said Hao, and they were off.

They arrived in a grassland field, where they were quickly attacked by a rock-like thing called a Statue Menhir.

"Holy crap! What the hell is that?" Kite asked frantically.

"It's an electric monster," Hao told him. "Skills!"

"Ani Tornado!" cried Rumiko. Her axe glowed with the essence of darkness, and she held it out, spinning three times.

"Hirameki!" called Shikito. The sword glowed green with the power of wood and he slashed horizontally twice in different directions, then spun once and slashed downward.

"Vak Repulse!" screamed Hao. The spear glowed with the power of fire, and he spun the spear in his hand, then rotated the spear around his body.

The Statue Menhir died quickly. Hao probably could have defeated the creature with just one normal attack,

but Kite didn't say so. He decided to let them enjoy the victory.

Suddenly, Kite glowed yellow. Yellow beams swirled all around him.

"What's going on?" he asked them.

"Calm down dude," said Hao. "You're leveling up."

"So I'm Level 2 now?" Kite confirmed."Whoa, hold on a sec," said Rumiko quickly. "You mean to tell me that

you're on Theta Server and you hadn't even reached Level 2 by the time you got there? That was

a huge mistake! You won't be able to defend yourself here. We'll have to protect you; we're all Level 20."

"Well, excuse me," Kite said under his breath. "I wasn't aware that I was going to be such a burden."

Kite was a little bit angry at them. Rumiko had basically said, "_You are so weak. You're not even fit to __adventure with us. Why don't you go and level up for a while and come back when you can actually help us as opposed to just standing around vacuuming up the EXP?_"

But eventually, he forgave them. The way he thought about it, his survival depended on it.

"Do we really have to clear the field?" Kite asked them. "I'm afraid I'm gonna die."

"It's ok," said Shikito. "I've got a Thunder Torque. I'll cast Rip Maen on you if you die."

"But I've got other friends online," Kite continued. "And I don't want to be a much higher level than them. That would be unfair to them."

"It just means you can show off to them," said Hao. "Look, you can go wait for us in the dungeon. We're going to stay here and clear out the field."

Though he didn't want to wait in the dungeon alone, he would rather be there than on the field. So he found the dungeon entrance and walked in.

When he entered the dungeon, there was a girl in pink with bright orange hair standing in the doorway to the next room.

"Hi," she said. "I'm A-20. Mimiru asked me to come and tell you where to meet her. She said she wants you to come to the bottom of the dungeon, where the Gott Statue is. She told me to take you there, since you're still only Level 1."

"Level 2!" he corrected her.

"Oh, sorry," she said. "I feel like an oaf. (> )"

"That's all right," said Kite. "We've never even met before, so how could you have known? Anyway, lets go meet Mimiru. And if you don't mind, I'd like to avoid as many portals as possible, if that's ok."

"Sure," said A-20. "I'll use a Fairy's Orb."

The first room had a portal, containing a Mummy Scissors.

"Let's go!" said A-20. "We're not in a party, so none of us can use Chat Commands. But you've got an Iron Rod, right? Use your earth magic. I'll hang back and heal, because I don't."

"Gan Rom!" Kite screamed, and the tornado with rocks surrounded the Mummy Scissors, causing an Elemental Hit. About 210 of its 420 HP was drained by this attack. That made the mummy angry. Kite looked fearfully at the long, iron blades attached to the mummy's knuckles, and was reminded of Sora. Even though he knew that he couldn't be hurt in this game, he still thought that the "claws" tearing through his flesh wouldbe painful.

Suddenly, he was terrified. He wanted to get out of this dungeon, no matter what it took. He used a Sprite Ocarina (an item used to escape to the field when in the middle of the dungeon) but nothing happened.

"It won't work, you baka!" cried A-20. "You can't use a Sprite Ocarina when you're in a battle! Now concentrate on magic."

"Gan Rom!" he said weakly, his knees wobbling uncontrollably. This time the spell didn't cause an elemental hit, and he was angry. He cast the spell again, but it barely hit at all. The Mummy Scissors was continuously closing in on him.

The creature didn't say anything, but as soon as it got close enough to him, it used an attack that was like Saber Dance only the blades were glowing green. He screamed.

"Repth!" A-20 cried, and he was healed. He still felt stunned, though, and the Mummy Scissors was about to attack again.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" said A-20. She ran forward and shoved one of her two swords into the mummy's stomach. It turned gray and disappeared.

"Thank you," said Kite breathlessly.

"It was nothing," said A-20. "But in the future, try not to clam up like that. You'll get yourself killed."

"All right," said Kite.

"What made you freak out?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Kite. "I just saw those claw things and got scared. I was afraid that if it attacked me I would be hurt."

"You can't be hurt in this world, remember?" she said, patting him on the shoulder.

But for some reason, he felt her hand touch him.

They continued on, and as they entered the next room, A-20 warned that there would be a magic portal in the next room.

"If you don't fight," she said, "you won't gain any experience. So you just don't move, and heal yourself if you get hit, all right?"

Kite nodded nervously. They entered the next room, which was like a long hallway, and the magic portal opened. Two Mummy Scissors wandered out. A-20 rushed forward.

"Tiger Claws!" she said, holding her swords out. She jumped in the air and spun around several times, slicing both monsters in several places. They both died.

"There," she said. "You OK?"

"Yeah," said Kite. He really wasn't OK, he felt really sick.

They entered the next room and a magic portal opened. Out popped a creature that looked like a floating pumpkin with a cape and two swords.

"That's a Pumpkin King! They have a Physical Tolerance! Knight's Bane!" A-20 exclaimed. The monster's tolerance was gone, and so she ran forward to deal with it.

"Lightning Rage!" she screamed, and held out her swords. They became electrified, and she jumped into the air, spinning many times. She landed and cross slashed both her swords, then jumped into the air on her side, and spun around even more, finally finishing by cross slashing again, killing the beast. She suddenly leveled up, and a blue treasure chest appeared. She took a Fortune Wire and poked it into the lock. There was a small click, and the chest turned a normal color. She opened it and pulled out a pair of blue boots.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Sea Greaves!"

She put the boots on and they melded with her character data.

There were no monsters in the next two rooms, but the third, a long hallway, had a magic portal in the center, as well as a chest. A-20 opened the chest.

"Cool," she said. "A Greencall scroll."

They ran towards the portal and a large, lizard-esque creature jumped out.

"King Snakoid!" said A-20, with a strange tone in her voice that was a combination of fear and excitement. "I'll take care of this in no time! LaRue Zot!"

A huge star of ice with thousands of stalagmites of frozen water burst out from the ground under the King Snakoid. It scored an elemental hit. Then the star exploded, causing even more damage. But the Snakoid didn't die, so A-20 cast the spell again, and this time, the creature perished.

"Wow," said Kite. "That spell was awesome!"

"Yeah," she said, "but it took a huge bite out of my SP. Mage's Soul!"

Her SP recharged, and they walked forward into the next room. It contained the stairs to the next room. They walked down and in the next two rooms they saw nothing, but when they went into the room after that, a portal opened. A large yellow snake came out.

"Orochi!" said A-20. "They're weak to Wood! Greencall!" she pulled out a scroll and opened it. It had a beautiful painting of a strange creature on it. The painting started glowing green, and a real version of it came out of the scroll and floated over A-20's head! A large, complicated design within a circle appeared under the Orochi, and there was an explosion, and the Orochi died. They ran into the next room.

Mimiru was waiting there for them, along with a strange Wavemaster.

"Hi, Kite!" said Mimiru. "Did you make it here OK?"

"Yeah," said Kite.

"Alright, I'll leave you guys alone now," said A-20, and she pulled out a Sprite Ocarina and disappeared.

"So what did you want to show me?" Kite asked Mimiru.

"Well, I wanted to introduce you to my friend," said Mimiru, pointing to the Wavemaster. "This is my friend, Tsukasa."

"Hi," Kite said nervously. He gave Tsukasa his member address.

"So this is your friend?" asked Tsukasa. "I'm unimpressed. It looks like a rip off of my character design."

Kite felt very angry after hearing this, but tried not to show it.

"So why did you want me to come here, Mimiru?" Kite asked her.

"Well, I just wanted you guys to meet. Maybe we could go to a dungeon sometime."

"That sounds like fun," said Kite.

"Tsukasa, give him your member address," said Mimiru."What if I don't want to?" asked Tsukasa defiantly.

"Just do it!" she said angrily.

"Fine," said Tsukasa. He gave Kite his member address, then used a Sprite Ocarina and left.

"Sorry he was kind of rude, Kite," said Mimiru.

"Don't worry about it," said Kite. "I'll work on him. He seems like a nice enough person."

"He is," said Mimiru. "You've just got to get to know him."

With that she left. Kite was about to leave as well, when Rumiko, Shikito and Hao entered the room.

"Where's Mimiru?" asked Hao.

"Um..." Kite said, trying to think of an excuse. "Well, you see, we had to meet here, and after the meeting, she left, so..."

"I can't believe it!" said Shikito angrily.

"It's OK, you guys," said Kite. "I'll just invite you all to a party sometime. You'll meet her, don't worry."

They all left and returned to Root Town, and then while his friends logged out Kite warped to Mac Anu.

* * *

Isn't Shikito obsessed? By the way, the keyword, Lambda Calmina Caldericala Altar was what A-20 called the area in the Japanese thing with subtitles, so don't be annoying about that! 


	6. Chapter 5: Bracelet

Well, I bet you can't guess what this is about. But I couldn't think of anything else to call it. What, do you want me to call it "Chpater 5: What happened after Kite went on a dungeon adventure with A-20 and pissed off all his friends by forgetting about them and letting Mimiru leave the dungeon without talking to them"? But I'm not sure if Mimiru or Tsukasa will come back... I guess you'll have to wait and see!

**

* * *

CHAPTER 5**

**BRACELET**

When he got back to Delta Server, he found Akazu, Michoru, Suzaku, and Magora waiting for him by the chaos gate.

"Where have you been?" asked Magora angrily.

"I went to meet my friends from school," said Kite.

"Well, you could have told us!" said Akazu. "Then we could have gone to a dungeon instead of waiting around here for half an hour!"

"Sorry, guys," said Kite. "I meant to email you, but I forgot. Look, let's just go to a dungeon. Then we can level up together and it'll be like nothing ever happened."

"Fine," said Michoru. "But I'm party leader!"

"OK," said Kite. "What type of field do we want to go to?"

"I heard snow fields were nice," said Suzaku.

"Nah, I don't want to go to a cold place," said Magora. "How about a grassland?"

"We've already been to a grassland," said Akazu. "What about a desert? Or a molten?"

"Let's let Michoru decide," said Kite. "She is the Party Leader, after all."

"OK," said Michoru. "I want to go to a leaf mold field. Delta, Quiet, Orange, Melody!"

**Delta ****Quiet Orange Melody**

They arrived in a field adorned with autumn leaves and giant mushrooms here and there.

"Whoa, this is beautiful!" said Michoru.

"It's amazing how the programmers created such interesting places," said Akazu.

"Well, let's see more of it!" said Suzaku excitedly.

"I'll use a Fairy's Orb," said Magora, raising a small ball of light into the air. Fairies came out of it and yellow dots appeared all over the field map.

They headed toward the closest portal and two Swordmanoids came out. Michoru didn't give them any chat commands, so they just ran forward to tackle the monsters using normal attacks. Kite and Akazu attacked one, and Magora and Suzaku attacked the other. Michoru hung back, and they expected her to heal them.

The Swordmanoid slashed horizontally at Kite, but he blocked with his staff. Meanwhile, Akazu ran behind the creature and sliced through it's back with his axe. The creature died, and they all received EXP. Magora and Suzaku were having a hard time with their monster, and the creature struck Suzaku in the chest and then hit Magora in the stomach. They both died, and Kite revived them despite Michoru's commands. Magora and Suzaku both attacked the Swordmanoid, and it died.

"Michoru, why didn't you give us any commands?" asked Suzaku.

"Well, I figured that we don't really need to do it," said Michoru."I mean, what people do in battle should just be common sense. The Party Leader shouldn't have to shepherd them.I even left a post about it on the board. Maybe we can start a trend!"

"You know, that's actually really smart," said Akazu.

"Yeah!" said Magora. "From now on, we fight according to what we think ourselves!"

"Cool," said Kite. "Now let's head to the next portal to try out our new strategy!"

They ran to the nearest portal and a large crab creature came out.

"Snip Snap!" said Michoru. "OK, here we go!"

"Vak Kruz!" said Magora, making fireballs crash into the creature. It caused an elemental hit and took out half it's health.

"Axel Pain!" called Akazu, crushing the enemy under his axe. They all leveled up.

"Awesome!" said Michoru excitedly.

They ran forward to tackle the next portal, and they encountered two Deadly Moths and one Snip Snap.

"Triple Doom!" cried Magora, slicing her spear into one of the Deadly Moths.

"Gale Breath!" said Akazu, holding a scroll in the air. It had two symbols on it, one they understood as the game's symbol for Wood, but the other meaningless to them. They glowed green, and several trees suddenly grew underneath the Deadly Moth that Magora attacked earlier, striking out the remainder of it's health.

"Tiger Claws!" called Suzaku, releasing his spinning attack upon the other moth.

"Juk Rom!" cried Kite, raising his staff in the air, while a green tornado with leaves flew up from under the moth, killing it.

"Crack Beat!" said Michoru, jumping into the air and slicing through the Snip Snap. They all gained EXP as it died.

"That was awesome!" said Akazu.

"Yeah!" continued Michoru. "We make a great party!"

"I only see one other portal on the map," said Magora.

"Then let's go clear it!" said Suzaku.

They ran into the portal and two Swordmanoids, Two Deadly Moths, and Two Snip Snaps came out of it.

"OK, let's go!" said Michoru excitedly, running toward a Deadly Moth and slashing at it with her sword.

Kite ran towards a Swordmanoid and clubbed it over the head with his staff, doing some damage. Magora ran to the other Swordmanoid and began attacking with her spear. Akazu stood between a Snip Snap and a Deadly Moth, while Suzaku slashed at a Snip Snap.

They didn't have much SP left over from the last battle, so they didn't use any skills. They eventually killed their attackers, though they all got hit many times and had to be recovered. When the battle was over they gained a lot of EXP, and so they headed into the dungeon.

The inside of the dungeon was like a large tunnel dug out by some kind of giant mole. They walked into the first room, and they saw a large creature that looked like a dog's head with fire forming it's body. It was strange, though, because it hada weird green glow.

"What is that?" asked Akazu.

"I'll check," said Kite. He looked at the enemy information to find that its name was garbled and unreadable, as was it's HP information.

"This is strange," said Magora. "I want to get out of here!"

"I do, too," said Suzaku. "But we can't leave until we beat this monster, so let's try."

Suzaku ran forward and attacked, but nothing happened. The damage numbers rose from the monster, but its HP meter stayed the same. Kite ran forward and started using magic, but with the same result. Magora shoved her spear into its side, but to no avail. Michoru and Akazu both attacked with physical attack skills. But the result was always the same. The monster could not be beaten.

Suddenly, Helba's voice rang out through the room.

"The Book of Twilight!" she said. "Open it!"

"What do you mean, 'the Book of Twilight'?" asked Michoru.

"The book you got from Aura! Use it now!"

"OK," they said.

They held the book out and opened it. Streams of green light shot out and bounced around the room. A light collided with each of them, and they were surrounded by a green essence. A blue and green bracelet appeared around each of their wrists. The bracelets grew bigger and bigger and then snapped forward, releasing dark blue beams which struck the monster. The green glow around the monster disappeared, and they killed it quickly.

"What just happened?" asked Kite.

"I don't know," said Michoru. "But I have a feeling that we aren't just normal players in The World anymore!"

* * *

Hmm... are they just normal players in The World? No. But something important and exciting happens in the next chapter, so don't stop reading now!


	7. Chapter 6: Coma

Does the title make you excited? Because that was the point. Anyway, go ahead and read. I won't hold you up any longer.

**

* * *

CHAPTER 6**

**COMA**

The group quickly warped back to Root Town without going further into the dungeon.

"What was that thing?" asked Magora.

"We've already said, we don't know," said Suzaku.

"Well I wish we did," said Akazu. "That thing freaked me out!"

"Well, I'm tired," said Kite. "I'm logging out."

"Me too," said the rest of them, and so they logged out for the rest of the evening.

When he reached the logout screen, Kite saw there were new posts on the board. He opened them, and then the first one was titled, "Chat Commands".

He opened it.

**Subject: Chat Commands**

**Author: Michoru**

**People, do we really need Chat Commands? I mean, we can all get by easily without them right? What do you think?**

There were a couple of replies.

**Subject: RE: Chat Commands**

**Author: Waffle**

**Yeah, you're probably right.**

**Subject: RE: Chat Commands**

**Author: Yip Yip**

**I think** **so too.**

**Subject: RE: Chat Commands**

**Author: Jikaryu**

**Uh huh. I think that's a cool idea**.

There was another subject thread on the board and Kite opened it.

**Subject: Coma**

**Author: Ninku**

**Hi. I just started playing this game yesterday, and my friend Yusuke was showing me around. We went to an area called Delta Beautiful Eternal Melody. It was fine at first but when we opened the treasure chest in the Gott Statue Room saw a large glowing tablet, and it recited a strange poem. Then the area turned into this weird place with green hexagons all over the ground, and then suddenly this weird thing with a red wand appeared. Then put the wand behind my friend and this big glowing thing appeared around its hand. Then it shot these blue things out ofthe glowing thingand they hit my friend and he disappeared. Then I suddenly got warped out of the area by something and then when I got back to root town I had a weird item called "Epitaph of Twilight" and there was no description. Then Yusuke's mom called me and said he had fallen unconscious and was in a coma in the ****hospital! Does anyone have any information? Please help me. Oh! I almost forgot! When I used the item I heard that same strange poem. Here it is:**

_**Yet to return, the shadowed one**_

_**Who quests for the Twilight Dragon**_

_**Rumbles the Dark Hearth,**_

_**and Helba, Queen of the Dark,**_

_**has raised finally her army.**_

_**Apeiron, King of Light, beckons,**_

_**at the base of the rainbow they meet.**_

_**Against the abominable wave,**_

_**together they fight.**_

_**Alba's lake boils**_

_**light's great tree doth fall**_

_**power-all now to droplets turned**_

_**in the temple of Arche Koeln,**_

_**returns to nothing,**_

_**this world of shadowless ones.**_

_**Never to return, the shadowed one**_

_**Who quests for the Twilight Dragon.**_

"Tha'ts scary," said Kite to himself. "I wonder if it's true or a hoax."

He returned to his desktop and saw he had new mail. It was from Tsukasa. He opened it.

**Dear Kite,**

**Sorry I was rude to you when we first met. I'm just not good at meeting new people. I'd like to get to know you better. Let's go to a dungeon sometime. How about D Great Smiling Gate? I hear there's a rare item there.**

Kite decided to reply.

**Dear Tsukasa,**

**Yeah! That sounds fun! I'd like to get to know you too. How about we meet tomorrow at three or so? I'll see you then.**

He then decided that as long as he was on his desktop, he'd mail his Michoru.

**Dear Michoru,**

**I read your post on the board. Also, did you read the thing by Ninku about the coma victim? Scary, isn't it? And didn't the guy say that the creature had a red wand? Do you think it's the same creature that attacked us at Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field? I mean, it's possible. Anyway, I'll see you online tomorrow. I promised I'd meet another friend at three so you can go ahead and level up at another field while I'm gone.**

He then shut off his computer and lay down on his bead, then shut his eyes and fell asleep.

He woke up the next day, a Sunday, and went to the kitchen downstairs. His brother, Kenji, was already eating breakfast.

"Morning, Kenji," said Kite.

"Morning," he said through a mouthful of oatmeal.

"Is there any oatmeal left?" asked Kite.

"Yeah," said Kenji. "It's in that pot on the stove."

Kite went and put some of the oatmeal into a bowl and then started eating it.

"Hey, is The World fun?" asked Kenji.

"Yeah, it is," said Kite. "Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking, I might like to play it," said Kenji.

"I'm not stopping you," said Kite. "But you'll have to get your own copy."

"Well, I have the money," said Kenji. "I've been saving for a couple of months. I'm planning to head to the game store later today. Do you want to come?"

"Sure," said Kite.

"OK," said Kenji. "I'll call you when it's time to go. By the way, what's your character's name again?"

"Kite," he told his brother.

"I like that name. Can I call you that?" he asked.

"Sure, if you want to," said Kite.

"Cool," said Kenji.

"Anyway, I'm going to see if any of my friends are online right now. Call me when you're ready to leave," said Kite.

He walked to his room and switched on his computer. He saw he had new mail. He opened his mail and saw a message from Helba.

**Kite,**

**You need to understand the importance of the bracelets that you and your friends have. They are the key to restoring balance within The World. Also, when you use the Data Drain, a virus spreads slightly throughout the system. If you use it too often, it'll be like Pluto's Kiss all over again. Occasionally, when you Data Drain a monster, you find a virus core. These are objects that you use to open up protected areas. I will contact you soon.**

**Helba**

Kite closed the email and logged into The World. His friends were there.

"Did you get an email from Helba as well?" asked Michoru.

"Yeah," said Kite. "My brother says he's going to buy The World later. So we may have to bring him along at some point."

"That's OK," said Akazu.

"Hey, I was wondering," said Suzaku. "You all saw the post on the board by Ninku, right?"

"Yeah," they said.

"Well why don't we go to Delta Beautiful Eternal Melody? I think that from the messages we got from Helba, with these bracelets, we become important. And I think we're going to do great things in this world, and this sounds like a good place to start."

"You're probably right," said Magora. "We should go there."

"Yeah," said Akazu. "Let's head over there right now."

"Oh, wait," said Kite. "My brother's calling me. I've got to go. I'll see you in ten minutes. Don't go without me!"

Kite quickly logged out of The World and ran to the game store with Kenji. They looked in the RPG section and found a copy of The World that was discounted. They bought it as well as a user's manual and then walked home.

"Hey Kenji," said Kite as they were walking.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Have you thought much about your character class?" he asked.

"Um, not really," said Kenji. "What are they again?"

"Twin Blade, Long Arm, Wavemaster, Heavy Blade, Heavy Axeman and Blademaster."

"Hmm..." said Kenji, thinking. "Heavy Blade. That sounds like fun."

When they got back to their house, Kenji installed the game on his computer while Kite logged back in to his.

"All right, guys, my brother's installing the game. He should be here any minute," said Kite. "In the meantime, I'm going to buy some items."

Kite ran down the cobblestone streets and down some stairs to the item shop, where he stocked up on healing items. When he got back, there was still no sign of Kenji, but then three rings flowed down in front of the chaos gate and standing in the middle was a boy in a tight, sleeveless black shirt and a tight, short, kilt. He had long, dark green hair and green eyes. He wore black cloth on his forearms and shins. His feet were bare, and he carried a large katana on his back. He finished the look with a mark on his thigh, a red serpent eating its tail circling a six-pointed star.

"Um..." he said, observing his surroundings. "Wow, this place is beautiful."

"Hey," said Kite. "You sound like my brother. Are you Kenji?"

"KITE?" he said in shock.

"I can't believe that's you!" said Kite. "I never thought you'd go for a look like that! Your character is unbelievable! You look great!"

"So do you!" said Kenji. "You look so different from the real you!"

"OK, I hate to cut this short," said Michoru, "but I believe we were going to a dungeon?"

"Oh, yeah," said Kite. "Here's my member address."

Everyone exchanged member addresses with Kenji.

"OK, it's my turn to be party leader," said Suzaku.

"OK," they all said. Suzaku invited them all to join his party and they warped.

DeltaBeautiful Eternal Melody

They arrived in a lush, beautiful field at night, with rain silently falling from the skies. A beautiful tune was playing in their ears.

"Oh, man!" said Kenji. "This place is fabulous!"

They eventually made their way to the dungeon, down to the Gott Statue room. When they opened the chest, a haze enveloped them and when it cleared, they found themselves in the same area where Aura had given them the Book of Twilight and was Data Drained. The strange creature with the red wand appeared.

"Kite, what's happening?" screamed Kenji frantically.

"I don't know," Kite admitted. He was scared, too. They all were.

The creature looked down at them and pointed his wand at Kenji. He threw it and it hit Kenji in the stomach, and he was raised up on the wand. The creature held out his hand and the bracelet appeared.

"Kite!" pleaded Kenji. "Help me! I'm scared! I tried to reset my computer but I can't move! Help me!"

Kite noticed that Kenji was crying. But there was nothing he could do. He had to sit there, watching in horror, as that thing Data Drained his brother. The blue beams collided with Kenji, and there was one, long scream of agony before he disappeared.

"Damn you!" cried Kite. "I'll kill you!"

He ran forward and raised his staff into the air, when suddenly Helba's staff was hurled into the ground and they warped out of the area.

As soon as they got back to root town Kitethrew his headset onto the deskwithout logging out and ran into Kenji's room. He was lying unconscious on the ground. Kite grabbed his limp body in his arms and held him, crying. He didn't know how long he sat there like that, but he did know one thing. He was on a mission now.

* * *

Isn't that sad? Poor Kenji! (pp) Oh, well. Find out what happens next! And review! I want reviews! 


	8. Chapter 7: The Frozen Knife

Just so you know, the name of this chapter is Kenji's Life and the Frozen Knife. I only called it The Frozen Knife in the chapter thingy because it wouldn't fit the whole thing.

**

* * *

CHAPTER 7**

**KENJI'S LIFE AND THE FROZEN KNIFE**

Kite didn't go back to school, play The World, or do anything except lie in bed for nearly two weeks after what had happened on the game. One day he decided to open his email, and saw many messages there.

**Sender: Hao**

**Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you at school, or online? Have you been sick?**

**Sender: Rumiko**

**Are you OK? You haven't been around for a while.**

**Sender: Shikito**

**Did something bad happen? You haven't been at school and you haven't played The World for a while. I'm getting worried about you.**

**Sender: Tsukasa**

**You totally blew me off! I waited by the chaos gate in Delta Server for nearly an hour! What's wrong?**

He sent them all the same reply.

**Sorry I haven't been around for a while. Something happened to me and I'm still not recovered from it. I'll see you as soon as I can.**

That was all he had to say. He wasn't ready to talk about Kenji's falling comatose to anyone but his parents yet. He saw that there was news, so he opened it. The headline was: "**Young Boy Falls Comatose in Game!**" He couldn't believe what he saw. He opened the message and read it.

"**A couple of days ago, in a small neighborhood in Kobe, a young boy by the name of Kenji Mikazawa fell unconscious while playing the popular online game, The World. The people at CC Corp. say that there is nothing wrong with the game, and that he must have fallen unconscious for another reason. But his family thinks differently. In particular his older brother, Yutaka Mikazawa, who was there when the incident happened, believes that the game caused Kenji to lose consciousness. He was found at the hospital by his brother's side late at night, waiting for him to wake up. When questioned about the events in the game, he said this: 'He was playing the game for the first time, and we were going to a dungeon that we'd heard about on the boards. I knew that the area was dangerous, the person even said so, but I didn't listen. We went to the end of the dungeon and opened the treasure chest and we were warped to a strange place. And then that damn creature with the cross-shaped red wand appeared, and then he paralyzed Kenji. Then he used the technique data drain on him and it sent him into a coma. It was all my fault. How could I have been so stupid? Taking him to an area I knew was dangerous.' So we don't really know the cause of his falling into a coma, though he is definitely not the first. Many people have lost consciousness when playing The World, and the CC Corp. continues to deny that it has anything to do with the game. However, what we do know about the coma victims is that they are all in bad shape and the doctors doubt that they are likely to wake up."**

At the end of the article was a picture of Kenji lying in the hospital bed unconscious, with his family looking sad by his side.

Reading this only opened old wounds and renewed his sadness, and tears dripped from Kite's face. He heard a knock on his door. He put his computer into sleep mode and asked the person to come in. It was his mother.

"We're going to see Kenji in the hospital," said his mother. "Would you like to come?"

Kite nodded solemnly and went to the hospital. They saw Kenji lying with his eyes closed on the hospital bed with his shirt off, and wires and tubes sticking in and out of his body.

"Is what you said that happened on the news true?" asked the doctor.

"What?" asked Kite, rubbing his eyes that were red, puffy from crying.

"On the news," said the doctor. "You said that something attacked him on The World. Is that the truth?"

"Of course it is!" said Kite angrily. "Why the hell would I lie about something like that? The stupid game caused this mess, and those System Admin. roaches are just denying everything and pretending it didn't happen so they won't lose their precious money! They're supposed to be repairing problems like this, not covering them up! These are people's lives we're talking about here! Why don't they realize that what they're doing is wrong?"

Kite broke down, and began weeping again.

"Well if what you said is true," said the doctor, "and the game really did cause this, then the answer to fixing it must be in The World."

Kite gasped. He'd given up the game because he knew what had happened there. But he needed to do the opposite. If he was going to wake up Kenji, then he'd have to figure out everything in The World. He turned toward the bed where Kenji lay, and kissed him on the forehead.

"Let's go," he said softly. He wanted to get back to The World as soon as possible. And he couldn't really be sure, because the machine that helped Kenji breathe was in the way, but after he'd gotten new hope of saving his brother, he swore that he'd seen Kenji smile.

Kite went up to his computer and hesitated before logging in. He appeared before the chaos gate. Michoru was there.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," said Kite.

"We had some extra money and we bought a house in Carmina Gadelica," said Michoru.

"What?" asked Kite. "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know," said Michoru. "We figured it would be a good idea to have a secret base or something. You know, to discuss our action plan."

"What action plan?" asked Kite.

"I'll tell you when we get there," she said. "Trust me, you'll love it. L Server!"

They warped. A sign on Kite's screen appeared.

Lambda Server

Cultural City Carmina Gadelica

They arrived in what was probably the most beautiful place Kite had ever seen. It was nighttime, and the buildings were all brightly colored and it just had a good feel to it.

"Follow me," said Michoru.

She led Kite to a door in a wall that looked like it was just for decoration. But Michoru opened it and they walked up a flight of stairs to a long hallway with many doors and a window at the end.

"OK," said Michoru. "Our's is the one closest to the window on the left. You can only get in uninvited if you are considered an owner, and we already set you up as one."

She opened the door and they both walked in. They entered a large living room, and it had a large window that had a great view of the city, and there was a large couch and a couple of chairs, a television, a bookcase, a carpet, a radio, and a painting of a grunty on the wall. There was a door leading to another room, but Kite was to preoccupied with this one to leave it yet. Akazu, Suzaku, and Magora were all sitting on the chairs, and Kite sat down on the couch.

"This place is amazing!" said Kite.

"Yeah," said Akazu, "and it cost us a hell of a lot of money to fix up."

"We were adventuring for nine days before we sold enough treasure and useless armor to afford it," said Magora.

"It wasn't as much fun without all of us, though," said Suzaku. "I think that we all have to be here for it to be the most fun it can."

"So, how's your brother?" asked Michoru.

Kite stared at his feet, not saying anything.

"Oh, no," said Magora. "He's not-"

"No, he's not dead," said Kite. "He's in a coma in the hospital."

"That's awful," said Akazu.

"Hey, I just thought of something," said Suzaku.

"What's that?" asked Kite.

"I heard about a player, who, a while ago, fell into a coma while playing the game. But the weird thing was, his character was still in the game. And he was controlling it! And he could smell, and taste, and feel everything in The World. It was like his character's body was his body. What if that happened to your brother? What if he's still in The World somewhere?"

"That's an interesting idea," said Kite. "I'll send him flash mail. I'll tell him to come to D Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground."

Kite sent the flash mail. He then left, alone, to go to the area.

He entered the cathedral and saw that no one was there. He looked at the altar and read from a carving:

_Countless will fall to the red wand of Skeith,_

_But there is hope for them yet,_

_For he will be defeated by the five great players,_

_Who hold the power of the Bracelet._

Kite gasped. The bracelet! This thing was a prophecy! Skeith was the name of the creature that data drained Kenji! And it said that the five players who held the Bracelet would destroy Skeith! He was going to be able to reawaken Kenji! He cheered, and then heard footsteps entering the cathedral. He turned around, gripping his staff, and saw Kenji entering.

"Kenji!" Kite ran forward and hugged him tightly.

"Kite..." he said weakly. "I can't logout of the game... I haven't eaten for two weeks. I'm so hungry."

"It's OK," said Kite, letting go of him at last. "We'll get you some food, and you can sleep at our hideout. I'll explain everything that's happened after you've eaten something."

They entered the hideout and bolted the door behind them.

"I'm hungry..." Kenji repeated weakly, lifting his shirt to reveal his ribs.

"I made some food," said Magora, "in case you came here. I figured you'd be hungry."

She led him through the door into a room with a long mahogany table and several chairs. They all sat down and began to eat stir fry and sushi. Kenji was shoving food down his throat so fast Kite thought he'd choke. Kite grabbed a bite of sushi and popped it in his mouth.

"Wow, that's amazing!" he exclaimed. "I can actually taste it in the real world! And I'm less hungry now, too! It's like I'm really eating it!"

"I know," said Magora. "For some reason, and I think it's because of the bracelets, whenever we're logged on to The World, it's like our consciousness is shifted into our game characters."

"I have an idea!" said Akazu.

"What?" they all asked him.

"Why don't we spend the night in the game?" he suggested. "I mean, Kenji's been alone for two weeks. I think he needs to spend time with his brother. Also, we can discuss everything that's going on in The World."

After they'd all eaten dinner they went back into the living room.

"So does this TV really work or is it just for decoration?" asked Kenji.

He pushed the power button and an image appeared. It was on the "Animal Channel".

"Now," said the voice on the TV. "Only a Grunty Miracle. Next, Grunty Ranch, 911. After that, Grunties Say the Darndest Things. Only on Animal Channel."

The image on the screen then changed to an image of a grunty in a coma on a hospital bed, and two adult grunties crying next to it.

Kite quickly switched the channel to anything that had anime on it, and found something. On the screen was an image of the chaos gate. And then someone was standing next to it. But they turned it off soon after, because they had stuff to discuss.

"So, why am I stuck here?" asked Kenji. "What happened after that thing attacked me?"

"Well," said Michoru.

"I think Kite should tell him," said Magora.

"OK, Kenji, well, after the thing attacked you," said Kite. "You went into a coma in the real world. That's why you can't leave the game. Because you don't have a physical body attaching you to the computer. Your soul and mind are here, but your body is in the hospital."

"So, how long am I going to be stuck here?" asked Kenji fearfully.

"Not long, if I have anything to say about it," said Kite.

"Me too!" said Michoru.

"And me!" said Akazu.

"Don't forget me!" said Suzaku.

"I want to help him as well!" said Magora.

"But how?" asked Kenji. "If my body is gone, then this mass of pixels is all I have left! How am I supposed to get back into my real body?"

"Your body isn't gone," said Michoru. "You aren't dead in the real world. You're still alive, but you're in the hospital. Though I must admit that I don't know how to get you back."

"I read a prophecy in Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground," said Kite. "It said that the creature with the red wand is called Skeith, and that people would be hurt because of it. But it said that the five who hold the bracelets will destroy it and bring everything back to the way it was."

"So all we've got to do is destroy Skeith?" asked Suzaku disbelievingly. "Awesome! That's easy compared to what I thought it'd be."

"Hey guys," said Magora.

"What?" they all asked.

"Do you think that we should all get together?" she suggested. "You know, in the real world?"

"That might be interesting," said Akazu.

"What are your names in the real world?" asked Magora.

"I'm Toku Harazumi," said Akazu.

"I'm Beshimi Resun," said Suzaku.

"I'm Yuki Daifuji," said Michoru.

"I'm Yutaka Mikazawa," said Kite.

"I'm Kenji Mikazawa," said Kenji.

"I'm Kauru Nekitoki," said Magora.

"Where do you all live?" asked Suzaku.

"Kobe," said Kite and Kenji together.

"Tokyo," said Michoru.

"Fukuyama," said Magora.

"Kyoto," said Akazu.

"Oh, crap!" said Suzaku. "We can't meet then! I live in America."

"That's OK," said Magora.

"We see each other here, and that's enough," said Michoru.

"I'm tired," said Kenji.

"Me too," said Kite. "We're going to bed. Where's the bedroom?"

"Through that door," said Magora, pointing to a small wooden door.

"Thanks," they said, and walked into the room. They saw a wardrobe and they opened it, and saw that it was full of night clothes. They both took a long nightshirt and Kite pulled his shirt off.

"This doesn't feel right," said Kenji, and Kite looked up to se him staring at his palms.

"What do you mean?" asked Kite.

"Well, it's like, this character," said Kenji. "I don't feel right in it. It doesn't feel like me."

"Well, that's kind of the point," said Kite. "You create a character who's not really like you."

"I know, but..." Kenji trailed off. "It just doesn't feel the same as having my own body."

"I know," said Kite. "It feels strange to me too, to be walking around as my character. But you'll get used to it. And we'll get you out of here and back to your body as soon as we can."

"You're right," said Kenji, taking off the cloth on his forearms and shins.

"Hey, Kenji? After we beat Skeith and return you to your body, are you still going to play The World?" asked Kite, pulling a blue nightshirt over his head.

"I don't know," he said. "Probably."

"Really?" asked Kite, surprised. "Even after everything that's happened to you?"

"Well, yeah," said Kenji. "I mean, this game is fun. And even though I'd rather be at home, being stuck here is kind of like an adventure to me. There are always going to be dangerous things here in The World, but that's just part of the fun of playing."

"I guess you're right," said Kite, getting into one of the beds. "Good night, Kenji."

"Good night, Kite."

The next morning Kite woke up early. He got dressed again and went out into the living room. No one was awake yet.

"It makes sense," he said to himself, staring out the window. "It's still dark out. Then again, it's always dark in Carmina Gadelica."

He decided that while he was awake, he'd make breakfast for everyone. He walked into the kitchen and started pulling out random ingredients, potatoes, bread, butter, jam, eggs, cereal, milk, etc. and started cooking.

Kenji woke to the smell of a hot meal that made his stomach ache. He went to the living room, then to the room with the table in it, where a fabulous breakfast feast had been set up.

"Whoa," said Kenji. "Did you make all this?"

"Yeah," said Kite. "I figured that we should have as much strength as we can get for leveling up today."

"Huh?" asked Kenji.

"Well, if we're going to beat Skeith and set you free, then we need to be powerful. And since I want to get you out of here as quickly as can be, we should try to gain as many levels as we can as quickly as we can."

Then, Akazu walked in, his eyes slightly puffy. Magora quickly followed.

"Did you make this?" they both asked.

"Yeah," said Kite. "We've got to keep our strength up today. We're going to be doing a lot of questing."

Michoru then walked in.

"I can not believe I just spent the night in The World," she said.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," said Suzaku, who was just walking in.

"Well, our bodies are probably still unconscious in front of our computer terminals," said Akazu.

"Except mine," Kenji reminded them.

"Yeah, it's only a matter of time before my parents walk into my room because I haven't gotten up for school... OH CRAP I FORGOT I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL!"

"Oh, damn!" said Michoru. "My parents are going to rip me to shreds! Bye guys!"

She quickly logged out, as did the rest of them.

"Kite, wait," said Kenji.

"What is it?" asked Kite.

"Just, tell me what's going on in the real world."

"OK," said Kite, logging out afterwards.

Kite quickly threw off his helmet and grabbed his bag, running into the building just as the school bell rang.

"Oh, Mikazawa-san, you decided to show up today."

"Yes, Wataragi-sensei, I did," he said rather coldly. The way he saw it, she was being incredibly rude. His brother was in a coma!

"Well, take your seat, class is about to begin," she said. Kite sat down next to Hao, where he usually sat during "Wataragi's Wicked Wanderings". The evil devil teacher turned to the board and started writing equations while mumbling to herself. Hao leaned over to Kite's desk.

"Yutaka," said Hao. "Where have you been?"

"I can't talk about it now, let's discuss it at lunch."

When lunch finally came, Kite sat down with Rumiko, Hao and Shikito.

"OK, Yutaka, you promised you'd tell us what's wrong," said Hao. "So spill it."

"Well, when my brother was playing for the first time we went to an area where we were attacked by a virus called Skeith who looks scary and carries a red wand. He used a technique called data drain on my brother and now he's comatose in the hospital."

"WHAT?" they all said at once.

"Calm down, he's all right," said Kite.

"You seem awfully calm about this," said Rumiko.

"Yeah!" said Shikito. "Especially considering it's your own brother."

"Well, he's still alive inside The World," said Kite.

"WHAT?" they repeated.

"Yeah, his consciousness shifted into the game, so he moves about The World as he would our world, only in his character's body. He's there right now, in fact, probably watching TV in our hideout in Carmina Gadelica."

Meanwhile, with Kenji...

"Aah! Get away get away get away!"

Kenji is being chased by a mad Tetra Armor in some high level area.

"Help! Someone help me! I don't want to die!"

Suddenly, someone warps into the area.

"Just gate out," says the person. Suddenly Kenji realizes that the Tetra Armoris preoccupied with something else.

"Oh," says Kenji, gating out.

Back with Kite...

The school day had finally ended, and Kite rushed home to his computer. He logged on to The World and made his way to the hideout, where he saw Kenji lying asleep on the couch with the TV still on and a tub of ice cream slowly melting on the floor.

"Same old Kenji," said Kite to himself, picking up the ice cream tub and walking it into the kitchen, where Suzaku was waiting.

"Did you get out of school early?" asked Kite, putting the ice cream in the freezer.

"Yeah," said Suzaku. "I've been waiting here for an hour. Kenji was already asleep when I got here."

"And you didn't put away his ice cream?" asked Kite.

"Who said it was his?" Suzaku asked.

Kite laughed.

"So what have you done while you were waiting?" asked Kite.

"I watched TV and ate ice cream," said Suzaku.

They suddenly heard the ruffling of cloth as Kenji woke up and entered the room.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," said Kite and Suzaku.

"Michoru woke me up," said Kenji.

Michoru then walked into the room, followed by Magora and Akazu.

"Hi," said Magora. "Are you guys ready to go questing?"

"Yeah," said Suzaku.

They all walked towards the door.

"I'll see you later, Kenji," said Kite.

"What?" he asked. "What are you talking about? I'm coming, too!"

"No way, you'll get hurt!" said Kite.

"So will you!" countered Kenji. "Skeith's the one who put me in a coma, I want revenge!"

"OK, fine," said Kite, though he was smiling.

They warped to Delta server and then chose a random keyword, giving them a level five area. Two levels hire then Kite's, three than Magora, Akazu, Michoru and Suzaku, and four than Kenji's. But they decided to take a risk. So they warped.

"So anyway, we've got three kids in comas," said a boy with dark hair shading his eyes, "and we got that stupid Aura girl out of the way."

"Excellent work, Senbou," said a woman leaning against a wall.

"But Inyoku," said a young boy lying on a couch, "what if she's already given the bracelet to someone?"

"Not to worry, Bushou," said the woman. "If Aura has presented the bracelet to anyone, it'll only make it easier to track them down."

"Hey," said the dark haired boy, "where's Kyougou?"

"I think she's out with Akogi," said the boy on the couch. "I think she said that they were screwing around withTheta Dying Bloody Fallen Angel."

"What about Kentan?" asked the woman.

"In Sigma server root town," said the dark haired boy.

"And Doki?" asked the one on the couch.

"Asleep," said the woman. She yawned. "And I think I'm about to join him."

"Be careful, Inyoku," said the boy on the couch. "You're starting to sound like me."

"Ha, ha, very funny," she said sarcastically, opening a door and walking in. She shut the door behind her and locked it, leaving the two boys alone.

"So, what do you plan to do if we find that Aura's already given someone the bracelet?" asked the boy with the dark hair.

"Hmmm..." said the other boy, thinking. "Nothing. I'll just let you guys deal with it. There's no reason a kid like me should get involved."

"You're true to your name, Bushou," said the other boy.

"I know," said the one on the couch. "That's why I picked it."

The group returned an hour later, now all steadied at level six.

"That was fun!" said Kenji.

"Yeah!" said Suzaku. "I haven't had so much fun playing this game ever before!"

"Hey," said Akazu. "What's that?"

He pointed to a small sign floating in the air that had a long message on it.

"**Feel you need to get a lot stronger faster? Well you're in luck! Come to the areaTheta Entwined Elusive Twins for the Frozen Knife event, and you'll find the perfect match for your skill level with bonuses that are our secret... that is, until you find them!"**

"Ooh, an event!" said Magora.

"Let's go check it out!" said Michoru.

They warped to Theta server.

When they got there, the wind ruffled their clothes and hair.

"The breeze feels great," said Kite.

But they didn't have time to dawdle, and they quickly teleported to the area.

They arrived in a snowy field with a huge blizzard. The snow blew into their faces and ripped their hair and clothes violently. Kenji grabbed his body and shivered.

"It's times like this I wish I hadn't chosen such a not-covering outfit," said Kenji.

"Well, it's too late to change it," said Kite.

"I envy you, Kite," said Kenji. "Your clothing is all snug and warm."

Kite rolled his eyes and walked into the maelstrom. His friends followed, and they slowly staggered their way through the storm. Akazu, who was walking at the front, had his eyes closed to keep the snow out. He suddenly bumped into a hard object and stepped back. As they looked at the thing, it was a huge tower completely made of ice.

"Do you think this is where the event takes place?" asked Michoru.

"I guess it must be," said Magora.

"Let's head in," said Suzaku. "I doubt that they'd have put it here if it was meaningless. It's like when someone puts a new character into their story. They don't do it, or at least they don't give the person a name, if they don't have some special purpose."

They nodded and entered the frozen structure.

As soon as they entered, the door shut and they heard an evil-sounding, female voice.

"Welcome, Adventurers, to the Tower of the Frozen Heartbeat. I am the ruler of this place, Korihimegimi. I won't allow you to leave this place. But I'll give you a

slight chance. If you can make it here, to the tenth floor of the tower, and defeat me, you may leave here."

The voice laughed and faded into the distance. A little freaked out by the voice, Kenji moved closer to Kite.

"This place is beautiful," said Magora, snapping everyone out of their daydreams.

"What do you mean?" asked Suzaku.

"Well, just look at it," said Magora. "These ice walls, they're like crystal. You can see right through them. And the snow outside is so horrible, but if you can look at its beauty without having to touch it, then it's just, well...beautiful."

They all nodded and walked through the doorway to the first chamber. Inside was a magic portal. When it disappeared, a strange creature appeared. It was a small, pale blue one-eyed demon wielding a scythe that was as big as its body. It laughed maniacally at them.

They all drew their weapons and prepared for battle.

"Says it's Darkness element," said Suzaku. "Use Thunder!"

"Lightning Bolt!" cried Akazu, holding a scroll in the air while a lightning bolt dropped from the sky and

struck the creature. It caused an elemental hit which took about a quarter of its health out.

Angered, the creature ran forward and drove its scythe right into Magora's arm. She shrieked, and then

the monster pulled it out, and attacked her in the shoulder. This time, she managed to block the assault. She flung her spear into its eye, blinding it.

"Triple Doom!" she said, and jumped up into the air, finishing by stabbing her spear down into the top of its head.

But the demon wasn't quite dead yet, and then, because he was blinded, spun around with his scythe outstretched to cut any who tried to get close to it.

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Michoru. "We can't get near it!"

"Then we won't!" said Kite, raising his hand in the air. "Juk Rom!"

A green tornado surrounded the demon, finishing off the last of its HP. They all gained a heaping amount of EXP, and they climbed up the steps to the next room.

"I'm impressed," said the evil voice. "You have proven your battle skills well, now let's test your thinking skills."

Two doorways appeared at the back wall.

"You may choose only one doorway. One will lead you back to Root Town, but the other will lead you deeper into the tower. Now, here's a hint:

_The path to the moon,_

_The Dragon's Jewel,_

_The Jewel Tree's Branch,_

_The Shell that the Swallows Hide in their Nests,_

_The Cloak of the Fire Rat,_

_The Buddha's Stone Bowl,_

_The path to bliss lies to the left,_

_With my parent's gone,_

_I've no one to protect,_

_I walk the path to the moon,_

_But to the right lie the representations of love,_

_That I asked them to bring me,_

_But none succeeded,_

_As I had planned,_

_So your decision awaits._

Everyone just stared blankly into space. But Kenji seemed to have an idea.

"Guys, I think I got it," he said. "The hint talks about the story of Kaguyahime, the bamboo princess. The Dragon's Jewel, the Jewel Tree's Branch, the Shell that the Swallows Hide in their Nests, the Cloak of the Fire Rat, and the Buddha's Stone Bowl are the objects that she asked the five princes who fell in love with her to bring to her to prove their love. She speaks about 'paths' both talking about the moon and the left door, so I think that the left door leads to escape to the moon, or Root Town in our case. When she says 'the representations of love' she means the objects that she asked the princes to bring to her. So I think that what she actually means is treasures that lie to the right that will be hard to get."

"What?" asked Suzaku, not understanding any of it.

Kenji sighed. "It's that way," he said simply, pointing to the right door. They walked through the right door, arriving on the next floor.

"You chose well," said the voice. "Now, your next challenge. Before you are two passageways, one that lead to a hellish place of demons and lies, one that leads to a beautiful place of truth. Also, you see a man. He is from one of the passages. You may ask him one question, then you must choose a path."

"This one's easy," said Suzaku. "I've heard this riddle a million times."

He walked up to the man.

"Take us to the place you are from," said Suzaku, and the man led them down the left passage.

"Can you be sure about this?" asked Michoru.

"Yes," said Suzaku. "See, if one place tells only lies, and one tells only truths, then you just ask him to take you to where he's from. If he's from the truth telling place, he has to tell the truth and take you to where he's from. But if he's from the lie telling place, he can't take you to his homeland because that would be telling the truth, so either way he leads down to the good place."

At the end of the corridor, they found themselves at a staircase.

"Wow," said Kite. "Great job, Suzaku!"

They all climbed the staircase, and when they got to the top, they found a completely empty room.

"What's going on?" asked Kenji.

"Your next challenge, travelers," said the voice. "Is to use the correct element to destroy the block shielding the door. Its element is Water. That's all I can tell you. Good luck."

"That's easy!" said Magora. "We just score an elemental hit, using its opposing element: Fire! Vak Kr-"

"Wait!" said Michoru.

"What?" asked Magora.

"This place is entirely made of ice!" said Michoru. "Use Fire and we might melt the ceiling and cause a cave in! We have to use another element!"

"Well, have you got any ideas?" asked Magora.

"Yes!" said Michoru. "Water conducts electricity, so use Thunder element!"

"Lightning Bolt!" cried Akazu, raising the scroll above his head. The lightning struck the block, and it melted away, revealing the passageway.

Inside the passage was a chest, containing a stone bowl, which they gave to Michoru.

They walked forward, up the steps, and they stood to see a large, red ball of flesh with eyes all over its body.

"This is the guardian of the path," said the voice. "It cannot be killed, but if you try to walk past it, it will kill you. You must use the arcane major to advance."

"What the hell is the 'arcane major'?" asked Akazu.

"I get it!" said Kite. "When it talks about the 'arcane major' it means the Major Arcana in a tarot deck! Cards like The Moon, The Wheel of Fortune, and the Tower are all Major Arcana cards. We have to use one of the weakening scrolls, like The Hanged Man, to incapacitate it while we walk by. I've got one. The Hanged Man!"

The monster was paralyzed, and they walked into the passage, but not before Magora had taken the golden branch with emeralds for leaves from the treasure chest under the monster.

In the next room, there were two doors, each with an image of a ship on it.

"You are doing quite well, better than I had expected at least," said the voice. "Next, you must pick a door.

_The rose that I present to Mary,_

_Holds within its petals the key to the light._

_The titanic behemoth whose halves,_

_Lay scattered at the bottom of the sea_

_Do not hold the path to me."_

"Not this again," said Suzaku.

"OK, I know this," said Magora. "'The rose that I present to Mary' means the Mary Rose, which was an old English ship that sunk and was recovered 437 years later. 'The titanic behmoth' I think represents the Titanic, another shipwreck. Because the Mary Rose was raised and the Titanic wasn't, let's go for the Mary Rose door."

They walked through the door on the left, and arrived in a room with a treasure box and a staircase. Kenji opened it and found a thick, silvery robe which he put on, and it warmed him up considerably. They walked up the stairs.

In the next room, they simply saw a portal. Out of it came six humanoid creatures with swords in their hands.

"Finally, some action!" said Suzaku, rushing forward and slashing one of the creatures with his blades.

"You may not use skills," said the voice.

Akazu rushed forth to attack one of the creatures, and sliced through its leg. It fell to the ground, but then stabbed him in the stomach.

"Akazu!" cried Suzaku as Akazu fell unconscious to the ground.

"I'm OK..." Akazu ensured them. "It doesn't hurt that bad..."

He coughed up blood, but stood up anyway, and crushed his axe onto the monster's skull, killing it instantly.

Suzaku was having slightly better luck. With his speed, he managed to dodge most of the monster's blows, and the ones that did hit only grazed him. All of his attacks landed, and the creature slowly but surely lost its health.

When Michoru ran into battle, she and the monster were evenly matched for speed and strength. Whenever one attacked, the other blocked. She managed to get in a few lucky strikes, though, and sooner than she thought the monster's body toppled to the ground and vanished.

Kite, not particularly good at physical combat, was hit more often than he struck. He soon realized he could dodge, and when the monster stabbed at him, he turned to the side and grabbed the creature's wrist. He then drove his staff into the monster's nose. It fell to the ground, and Kite clubbed it a few more times in the stomach and head until it finally died.

Kenji moved surprisingly quickly for a heavy blade, and slashed swiftly and devastatingly. His fast attacks did lots of damage, and the creature soon perished under Kenji's blade.

Magora's spear attacks moved so fast that they could barely be seen. The creature didn't even seem to notice the attacks, and when Magora stopped to take a short break, the creature ran forth to attack, when suddenly, he died.

When the dust cleared, there was a treasure chest, containing a small blue shell which Akazu took. Entering the next level of the dungeon, they saw a large, dragon-like creature.

"Your final challenge before you face me," said the face. "You must get to door this creature guards without using skills or items."

Akazu ran forward and sliced the creature's head off with his axe in one blow.

"Great job, Akazu!" said Kite. But their victory was short-lived, as two heads grew in place of the old one.

"It's a Hydra!" said Michoru.

"Then we can't kill it!" said Suzaku.

"Wait! I have an idea!" said Akazu, and his character suddenly froze.

"He left his terminal," said Magora.

But as quickly as he had left, Akazu came back, and a flute materialized in his hand. He began to play it, and the Hydra calmed down, and soon lay on the ground, not moving.

"How did you do that?" asked Kenji.

"'Music soothes the savage beast,'" Akazu quoted, and they opened the chest that appeared in front of the doorway. Inside was a yellow jewel with a pattern encrusted into its surface. Kite put it in his bag, and they went up the stairs to face Korihimegimi.

When they got to the top of the stairs, they saw a woman with silver hair and pale blue skin sitting on a throne. She had ice blue eyes and a golden crown on, and her hair was bunched up on top of her head. She wore a long, flowing light blue robe with a dark purple armored vest on top of it.

"Well, I hadn't expected this," she said. "I can't believe someone actually managed to make it up here."

"Shut up and die, wretch!" said Magora.

"Oh my, you are so unkind," said Korihimegimi. "I do believe it's time to teach you some manners!"

She pulled out a dagger.

"Daggers of Ice!" she threw it and it split into a huge storm of daggers, which they all just barely blocked.

"So that's how it's going to be, is it?" asked Korihimegimi. "Well, have it your way. Fuyu Circle of Winter!"

She held out her hand and a complex circular design shot forth and hit Michoru. But that only made her more determined. She ran forward and drew her sword.

"Icicle Blade!" said Korihimegimi. A sword of ice formed around her hand and she and Michoru began in sword combat. The others tried to advance on her, but she simply threw more daggers at them. Occasionally, one would manage to strike, but it never did any damage.

"Frozen Knife!" she said, and she threw a knife right at Kenji.

"Run!" screamed Kite, and that's what Kenji did. But it was too late, the knife struck him in the back. There was no scream, but he fell to the ground. Kite ran towards him, but found that Kenji was quite alive. The cloak he was wearing had protected him!

"I get it now!" said Kenji. "It's the objects that we found! They all have power over her! We have to use the treasure we found!"

"Right," they all said.

Michoru used her item first. A handle came out of the bottom of the bowl, and a blade came out of the basin. The bowl itself became a hand guard for a new sword: the Holy Sword of Buddha!

Then Magora used her treasure. The branch elongated and became the golden shaft of a spear, and then the emerald leaves became the blades. She now wielded a never before seen spear: the Golden Glaive of the Jewel Tree!

Kenji had no new weapon, as he had the special armor: the Cloak of the Fire Rat!

Akazu used his next, and the shell expanded and grew much larger and the edge became sharper. A long pole extended from the shell, and it miraculously transformed into the Axe of the Swallow's Shell!

Kite used his last, and a crescent-shaped piece of grey stone grew around the gem, and a silvery metal shaft extended from the crescent. This marked the birth of a new weapon: the Wand of the Dragon's Neck!

Armed with their new equipment, the group charged. And Michoru sliced a pendant off of Korihimegimi's neck. She tossed it to Suzaku, urging him to use it.

The gem turned into two smaller pale blue gems, and long, silver blades extended around them, connecting to handles that began to appear. Soon, he had acquired his new pair of blades, the Frozen Knives!

They attacked relentlessly. Korihimegimi didn't have much time to recuperate between each onslaught.

"Sacred Slash of Buddha!" cried Michoru, her sword glowing with beautiful colors. She slashed horizontally and a long blade of colored energy was released from the tip of the sword. It drove through Korihimegimi's stomach.

"Jeweled Tornado!" said Magora, holding out her spear and spinning around while a bright energy surrounded her and her spear, leaving a trail of energy, cutting through Korihimegimi.

"Frozen Knives!" said Suzaku, slashing once up, down, left, and right, and then flipping over Korihimegimi's head and stabbing into her back, then dragging the knife down as he landed.

"Flaming Arrow!" yelled Kenji, a red bow appearing in his hand. He grabbed the string, and an arrow made of fire appeared on the bow. He pulled the string and released it, sending the arrow flying into Korihimegimi's heart.

"Song of the Swallows!" said Akazu, his axe glowing blue. A birdsong was heard as he ran forward and slashed wildly, the directions indiscernible. But he finished with a long, hard slash down onto her head.

"Dragon with the Jewel in its Neck!" cried Kite, raising his staff in the air. A complex pattern within a circle appeared underneath his feet, and glowed brightly. Light poured up from beneath him and formed into a crystalline dragon, and as Kite moved his staff forward, the dragon flew forth, right through Korihimegimi.

A loud scream was heard, and everything around them had been engulfed in a bright light. When it cleared, there was no one but themselves. Korihimegimi was dead. They had cleared the event.

They jumped and cheered over their victory, and a man suddenly appeared before them.

"Congratulations," he said, "you have cleared the Frozen Knife event. We will now calculate your reward. Your level, combined with your time bonus and your winning the event, five hundred bonus points for defeating Korihimegimi, and a hundred for every level you made it to comes to... 3,564 EXP."

They all leveled up four times, bringing their levels to ten.

"Congratulations again, and make sure to keep playing The World. Thank you for taking part in our event."

They were automatically warped out.

"That was so muchfun!" said Kite when they got back to Root Town.

"I know," said Michoru. "And we got some super-ultra-mega-double rare weapons out of it as well!"

"Plus four levels!" Akazu reminded them.

Kite looked at the clock on his computer.

"Crap," he said. "It's gotten really late really fast. I've got to log out. I'll see you. Bye Kenji, see you tomorrow."

He logged out.

* * *

Is it awful? I hope not. This chapter took forever to write. It's my longest one yet. Oh, I'm going to need a character for my upcoming chapters, so please, if you have any, then just review and put the ideas in it.I recommend you don't use the main character in your own fanfic. The one I like best will appear in my story! Here's the format:

Character Name:

Character Class:

Appearance: (Hair, eyes, clothes, random markings, skin tone, etc.)

Personality:

Just copy and paste in your review.


	9. Chapter 8: Moss

Lo, chums! Sorry I haven't updated since September, but I've had really bad writer's block. Anyway, I decided thatI won't just use one character that was suggested, I'll use them all! But please don't send me too many more. If you do, I can't guarantee that they'll appear. Oh, by the way, if your character didn't appear this chapter, then they'll probably come in next chapter. OK, let's get going with Chapter 8 of .hack/curse!

* * *

CHAPTER 8 

MOSS

Kite stared at the flowing water beneath the Mac Anu bridge. Kenji came up behind him, his inventory having just been filled with items. They'd been waiting for a while for the rest of their party to join them, but so far there was nothing. They'd sent flash mail but no one answered.

"Where are they?" asked Kite. "I'm bored."

"They probably just got tied up with homework or something," said Kenji.

Another fifteen minutes passed when finally Akazu, Suzaku, Michoru and Magora approached them.

"It's about time," said Kite.

"Sorry," said Magora.

They were interrupted by a loud explosion coming from the alley. When they ran over they saw a crowd of people all watching a strange-looking boy as white doves flew into the air. The boy had long, blonde hair to his shoulders with one side in a pigtail. He had forest green eyes, and under his emerald green armor he wore a long-sleeved, cream-colored shirt that had tears in the arms. The shirt had curved green markings all over it and green trim on the neck and bottom. He wore a pare of leather pants that went down to just beneath his ankles. He wore brown leather boots with silver fastenings. A long, silver sword hung at his side.

"Ah, the Mysterious Daidoju has done it once again!" the boy exclaimed. He eyed the party and walked over to them.

"A rose for a lovely lady?" he said, creating a rose with a flick of his hand. He held the rose toward Michoru, who blushed briefly before punching him in the teeth.

"Even a rose has its thorns," he said jumping up.

"Who the hell are you?" Akazu demanded.

"Ah, you know not my name?" he asked, surprised. "I am the Mysterious Daidoju, the street performer!"

"Uh huh," said Suzaku. "We'll just be leaving now."

"Oh, but you just got here!" said Daidoju.

"Yeah, and we're really sad to go, but we, uh, have to-"

"But what could be more important than making a new internet friend?" he asked, pouting a little.

The crowd began to disperse as it became apparent that no new tricks would be performed soon. After everyone was completely gone, the party tried to move towards the Chaos Gate, but Daidoju grabbed Michoru's wrist. She struggled to get away, but his grip was tight.

"Wait," said Daidoju.

"What?" asked Michoru, turning around.

"That's a very interesting bracelet," he said, staring at her free wrist. "It must have taken a lot of questing to obtain it. Do you mind if I look at it for a moment?"

"Uh..."

He held her free wrist and stared at the bracelet.

"And what exactly is its function?" he asked her. "It's quite beautiful, fitting for a pretty lady like you. 3"

He ended his sentence with a heart to prove his point.

"Uh, just another piece of armor!" she quickly lied. "Uh, but it's really powerful. It's called the, uh, Neptune Bracelet! Yeah! And it, uh, gives me LaRue Zot and PhaRue Rom! It's really cool!"

"I see..." said Daidoju. "It appears to be quite rare. Where did you obtain such an item?"

"From a girl in whi..." Michoru stopped herself in mid-sentence. "I mean, from an event!"

Daidoju looked shocked.

"A girl in white..." he whispered.

"Huh?" asked Michoru.

"Well, travelers, I must be off!" he said, regaining his goofy demeanor. "And may your journey be a safe, fun, happy one! Farewell!"

Three rings appeared around him and he disappeared.

"What an ass," said Kenji.

"Seriously," said Kite.

"Aw, are you guys jealous?" asked Suzaku.

"What did you say?" they screeched at the same time.

"Oh, nothing!" said Suzaku, a little halo appearing above his head.

Kite and Kenji assaulted Suzaku, loud shouts and cries of pain emerging from their little heap.

"Why is everyone I know an idiot?" Magora asked herself.

"Good question..." said Akazu.

"You left the post on the board, right?" a woman asked.

"Yes," said a boy. "And don't worry, I didn't use my real name."

"Good," said the woman.

Aman entered the room and ran up to the woman.

"Kyougou!" said the man. "We've obtained data in regards to that certain matter."

"Excellent work, Akogi," said the woman, examining the data. "I see... So, Aura really has passed on the Bracelet."

The party returned from their trip and found that the board had new messages. Kite began to check them, and found that there was a new post under the subject "Girl in White". He opened it and read the messages.

Subject: Girl in White

Author: Waffle

I saw a girl in white in a dungeon. Is it an event?

Subject: RE: Girl in White

Author: Kazari

Yeah, I saw her too. Probably nothing to worry about.

Subject: RE: Girl in White

Author: Minotaur

What if it's Pluto's Kiss 2?

Subject: RE: Girl in White

Author: netspeak

u ppls r paranoid lol

Subject: RE: Girl in White

Author: Daidoju

I saw a girl in white once. I figured she was just another player, but I haven't seen her since.

Subject: RE: Girl in White

Author: Hikari

No one's seen her in a while. Do you think someone cleared the event?

Subject: RE: Girl in White

Author: Kyo

I saw her at the dungeon Theta: Expansive Silent Great Sea.

That was the last of the posts, so Kite logged back in.

"We've got to go to Theta: Expansive Silent Great Sea!"

"Why?" asked Magora.

"There was a post on the board!" said Kite. "Someone's seen Aura there!"

They all quickly jumped up and ran to the Chaos Gate. They formed a party and warped to the area.

The area they arrived in was not a normal field. Instead, they found a completely blank, white area. The only object they could see was a chain wrapped around the wrists of a girl.

"Aura!" Kite yelled.

Aura opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Help me..." she mouthed, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

The party advanced, when they heard someone gate into the area. They turned around.

"What are you doing here?"

"To see the girl in white," said Daidoju.

"Of course!" said Kite. "I saw his post on the boards!"

Daidoju ran towards Aura and grabbed at the chains. Immediately, Aura looked up, grinning. She began to morph, her arms coming apart and her legs sharpening to points. Her head sank into her shoulders and a halo appeared around it. Lastly, a great red wand appeared. The false Aura was really Skeith.

Kite turned toward Daidoju.

"You! Gate Out, now!"

"I can't! The system won't let me!" screamed Daidoju.

"Akazu, contact Helba!"

Akazu sent flash mail to Helba in the hopes that she would help them. Within moments, the area fell apart and the party disappeared.

"Damn! They got away!" cried a boy in green. "Kyougou will have my head if I don't get them!"

He thought for a moment.

"There's a plan..."

The party appeared in Dun Loireag, standing before Helba. She seemed upset.

"What you just did was foolish," she said coldly. "You knew Aura had been drained by Skeith, it was obviously a trap."

"Sorry," they murmured.

"Hmph."

She quickly warped away, leaving the party to stand alone.

"Well, we have no new leads," said Magora, "and Helba is pissed off at us. What do we do now?"

"Wanna visit the Grunty Ranch?" asked Akazu. "It's something we can do in between leads."

They agreed, and began to walk across the planks toward the ranch. When they arrived, there was no one there but a young girl kneeling before a grunty. She was lightly tanned, and had shoulder-length light blue hair that was accentuated by her dark blue eyes. Beneath a gold T-shirt, she was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt. She was wearing gold capris and shoes that were gold and white. On each of her cheeks was a small blue triangle, and two small swords hung at her hips.

The girl pulled a pumpkin out of her inventory and presented it to the grunty, who sniffed it for a moment before devouring it. He began to grow and change, when suddenly-

"MON AMI!"

The girl screamed.

"Oh, thank you Mon Ami!" said the grunty. "Thanks to you, I am now a gentleman. I am in debt to you, Mon Ami!"

"Go away!" she screamed at it. "I don't want a Noble Grunty!"

Teary, the grunty turned and ran away into the sky. The girl turned around and noticed the group watching.

"Oh!" she said, embarrassed. "Uh, hi! I'm Hikari!"

"Hi," they said awkwardly.

"I just don't like Noble Grunties much, you see."

"Uh huh," they said.

"So, what are your names?"

They introduced themselves to her.

"Well, you want to go on an adventure or something?" she asked.

"We can't right now, sorry," said Michoru. "We're kind of busy."

"Oh, that's OK," she said. "Well, take my member address. Call me anytime if you want to go to a dungeon."

She warped out, leaving the party by themselves. No grunties were wandering in the ranch, so they left and headed towards the Chaos Gate. They warped to Carmina Gadelica and entered the hideout.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" asked Suzaku.

"Nothing we can do," said Kenji.

"Let's all log out until we get some leads," said Kite.

"Good idea," said Magora.

A boy in green stopped a young boy on the streets of Mac Anu. The boy had straight, brown hair. His hair wasn't very long, but it was enough to be tied back. He had brown eyes and wore a bright red long sleeved shirt and red gloves. He had a brown belt that held his two swords and black pants with red boots.

"Hey, you," said the boy in green.

"What?" asked the boy in red.

"What's your name?"

"Gerik," said the boy.

"You've heard of the .hackers, right?" asked the boy in green.

"Yeah," said Gerik. "Who hasn't?"

"Well, I have a bracelet just like the hero Kite's," he said, "and I'm willing to part with it."

"Really?" said Gerik excitedly. "How much?"

"How much you got?"

"50,000 GP tops."

"Deal."

Gerik took the bracelet and handed the boy the money. The boy walked away, counting the money as he did so. Gerik, although he wanted to test the bracelet, found that it was 11:30 and so logged out.

The next morning Kite had the day off, so he logged in to The World. He walked in to the hideout and saw Kenji eating his breakfast. It didn't take long for everyone else to show up, and when everyone was there they began planning.

"So, I'm thinking we should go to a random area," said Kite, "and level up."

Everyone agreed. When they were done eating, they went to the Chaos Gate and entered a random keyword.

When they arrived, they were in a molten field, and they were all sweating uncontrollably. They entered the cool, dark dungeon as quickly as possible, ignoring all the portals on the field even though they were there to level up. They entered the first room and destroyed the monster with minimal difficulty. In the next room, however, they saw a twin blade boy in red struggling with a monster. A protect break appeared, but of course he didn't notice. Suddenly, he raised his hand and data drained the monster.

The party was shocked. No one else was given the bracelet.

"Hey, you!" cried Suzaku.

The boy turned around and walked toward them. He held up his bracelet.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"What are you doing?" cried Magora. "No one has those bracelets but us!"

She held up her bracelet.

"That's weird," said the boy. "Anyway, I'm Gerik. Nice to meet you."

He held out his hand but nobody took it.

"OK..." he said. "So, you wanna team up?"

The party agreed. It was the only way that they could find out more about the bracelet.

Michoru invited him to the party. They quickly advanced through the dungeon to the Gott Statue. They opened the chest and found within it a Rainbow Card. Gerik used a Sprite Ocarina and they returned to the field, where the quickly gated out to Root Town.

"That was fun," said Gerik.

"Yeah," said Kite.

"You want to go somewhere else?" asked Akazu.

"Uh, OK," said Gerik.

"Here, Theta: Towering Shadowed Holy Ground!"

When they arrived, they found themselves before a great tower, stretching into the sky above. They ran into the tower and saw nothing but grey characters floating through the air. They were all dead, just drifting pieces of data. The only door in the room shut and a portcullis fell over it. They were trapped.

Maniacal laughter rang through the air, as the dead character data disappeared, reforming into Skeith.

"I'll kill you this time!" Kite shouted.

They attacked relentlessly, but Skeith never seemed any weaker.

"Revolver!"

"Staccato!"

"Juk Rom!"

"Hayabusa!"

"Triple Doom!"

"Brandish!"

"Tiger Claws!"

None of it ever seemed to work.

"Why won't it die?" Kenji asked.

They continued their assault, never getting any closer to protect break.

Suddenly, Skeith stopped and released his protection on his own.

"Alright!" said Kite. "Let's go! Data-"

"Hang on!" said Gerik. "Let me handle this! Data Drain!"

The limbs extended from around his wrist, growing bigger and bigger. Suddenly, they snapped backward over his arm. The bracelet crawled over his body, slowly engulfing him.

"Gerik!"

They ran over to him.

"Gerik!" said Michoru. "I have something to ask you! Who gave you that bracelet? Was it a girl in white?"

"No..." said Gerik weakly. "It was... a boy in green."

He shrieked as the bracelet completely ate him. He became nothing but a mass of green and blue. A boy appeared in the room. He had waist-length black hair and wore a long, green robe. He held a green staff in his hand.

"Perfect..." he said, watching the writhing mass.

"Who are you? You're the one that did this to him, aren't you?" screamed Kite.

"But of course," said the boy. "Oh, forgive me, I must introduce myself. I am Senbou, one of the Seven Hackers of Hades."

He smiled evilly.

"That bracelet that I gave him was nothing but a virus. It would activate if he used Data Drain against a Data Bug or virus. Now that he has, my plan is complete."

He pulled out of his pocket a small, green orb with a black pattern encrusted on its surface. He held it against the mass and it immediately began to expand. It slowly took form and turned into a great bird-like machine. It had thin, pointed legs and two great wings that looked like blades spread apart. Floating above its head were six swords. Gerik could be seen in the center, trapped by the thing.

"Well, I have to be going now," said Senbou. "Skeith! Let's go!"

He and Skeith warped away, leaving the party trapped with the bird machine.

"We have to destroy it!" said Suzaku.

"We can't!" cried Magora. "It's still a person!"

"That isn't the point, Magora!" said Suzaku. "If we don't destroy it it will endanger everyone else!"

"I know you're right, but..." she trailed off. "It doesn't feel right."

"We don't have time to be thinking about this! Let's go!"

"Sacred Slash of Buddha!"

"Dragon with the Jewel in its Neck!"

"Song of the Swallows!"

"Jeweled Tornado!"

"Flaming Arrow!"

"Frozen Knives!"

The attacks hit hard, but the bird just slashed with its wings and hit even harder.

"Repth!" said Kite. He cast the spell several times, healing everyone.

"The Moon!" said Akazu, trying to make the enemy fall asleep. It was ineffective, and the bird just threw the same thing back at him.

"Take a Restorative!" said Kenji, tossing Akazu the potion.

"Kite! Take this helmet!" said Magora, tossing him the armor. "It gives you La Repth!"

"Thanks!" said Kite gratefully.

"Crack Beat!"

"Gan Zot!"

None of the attacks did any good.

"Nightblight!"

Bats flew and struck the bird, but Protect Break still did not come.

"Staccato!"

"Vak Kruz!"

Nothing worked. After much work, the beast's protection finally broke. The group drained it and warped back to Root Town.

The group went to their home to discuss things.

"So," said Akazu. "Skeith was really being controlled by a group called the Hackers of Hades."

"Aura must have posed a threat to them," said Kenji. "Why else would they command Skeith to destroy her?"

"Maybe it wasn't Aura," said Michoru, "so much as the idea that she might pass the bracelet to someone else."

"Yeah," said Suzaku. "The bracelet rewrites the whole system, right? So then the bracelet is really the only thing that can stop them."

"Which would mean that they were after Aura because she would give the bracelet to someone," said Magora.

"So then," said Kite, "they're going to be after us. They're afraid of the bracelet. They're hackers, so they'll be able to track us down. We're going to be in danger. And most of all, we're going to have a long journey ahead of us."

* * *

OK, I'll try to work Minotaur in next chapter, and I'll also try to have Hikari play a bigger role. Anyway, to ensure that I update this story before July, I recommend that you PRESENT ME WITH IDEAS for the next chapter. So, anyway, thanks for reading! Review! 


	10. Chapter 9: Loch

Hello to all! Here we are with the 9th chapter of .hack/curse! YAY:D

Oh, by the way, this story has reached over 20,000 words! YAY!

If you're wondering why the last chapter was called Moss, it's because Senbou wears green, which is the color of moss.

And if you're wondering why this chapter is called Loch, it's because it involves lakes...kind of.

OK, I decided to use Minotaur and Kojiru in this chapter. I wasn't sure if Kojiru was intended to be male or female but the name made me think he was male.

Now, because I have nothing left to say, on with the fic!

* * *

CHAPTER 9 

LOCH

A young boy robed in the color of spring leaves knelt before a woman.

"My Lady," he said to her, "I have done as you instructed."

"Excellent," said the woman. "With them out of the way, our conquest of The World is but a moment away."

"I await your orders, my Lady," said the boy.

"Fetch Doki for me," said the woman.

"As you wish."

The boy left and moments later another boy appeared, his garb blazing.

"What is it, my Lady?"

"Head to Theta, Soothing Geothermal Loch."

"As you wish."

* * *

Almost a week had passed, and still there was no new news about Senbou or any other Hackers of Hades. The group occupied their time by leveling up and were about to hit Level 14. They were tearing apart the internet for information, but still found nothing. 

They sat in the hideout watching _Grunties Say the Darndest Things_ when they heard a knock at the door. Michoru stood up to open it and a girl walked into their hideout.

"Hi!" she said to them. "I'm your next door neighbor."

"What, do you want a cup of sugar?" asked Suzaku, only to be smacked over the head by Magora.

"Actually, I was just going to ask if you knew about the hot springs."

"Hot springs?" asked Kenji, intrigued.

"Yeah," said the girl. "Theta, Soothing Geothermal Loch. I just came back, and it's really nice, even though you can't feel it."

Everyone stifled a laugh.

"I was just letting you know, so you could visit them when you have the time. They really take the stress off, you know?"

"Thanks, bye," said Magora as the girl left.

"So, you want to go?" Akazu asked his companions.

"Well, I have been needing some relaxation lately," said Kite.

"And they seem pleasant," said Magora.

The decision had been made. The party left the hideout and headed for the chaos gate.

* * *

They reached an area that had a small, oriental building with paper walls. There was a large paper screen in front of a path, but a hot spring could be seen through it. Trees grew everywhere, hidden by the steam that rose from the hot water. 

"That must be the changing room," said Akazu, pointing to the small building.

"Welcome to the Hot Springs," said an NPC. "The girls' changing room is in the left part of the building. The boys' changing room is on the right side of the building. Girls, your hot spring is just behind this paper screen. Boys, your hot spring is behind that screen."

The NPC gestured at the different paper screens and the party split up and entered the changing rooms.

* * *

When the Michoru and Magora got to the hot spring, there were already some people there. First, there was the girl Hikari that they had met at the Grunty Ranch. On the other side of the spring, there was a girl silently staring at her knees, her black hair falling beneath the surface of the water. 

"Oh! It's you guys!" said Hikari, looking up at them.

"Hello," said Magora, testing the water carefully with her toe before dropping into it.

"How have you been?" asked Michoru as she descended beneath the surface of the water.

"OK," said Hikari. "I finally raised an Iron Grunty instead of one of those damn noble ones."

"That's... good to hear," said Magora nervously.

* * *

As the boys approached their hot spring, they could see dark shapes in the steam. They entered the cloud of steam and saw a young boy with a scarred body sitting in the hot springs. His mid-back black hair sank beneath the surface, and his red eyes shone creepily. Across from him sat a boy with blue hair that covered his left eye who had red marks on his cheeks. Sitting next to him was a boy with short black hair and brown eyes. 

"Hi," said Kite.

"Hi," said the boy with blue hair. "I'm Minotaur."

"I'm Kojiru," said the boy with short black hair.

"...Odysseus," said the boy sitting across from the other two.

Kite and the other boys introduced themselves, and Kite lay his staff on the edge of the spring and slid into the water. Suzaku did the same, and Akazu followed suit. Kenji finally entered the water.

"So, why'd you name your character Odysseus?" asked Kenji. "Are you Greek?"

"No," said Odysseus. "I had to read the Odyssey for school and liked it."

"What class are you?" asked Kenji.

"Gunner," said Odysseus.

"I've never heard of that," said Akazu.

"Event," said Odysseus.

He sank beneath the water, not wanting to speak any longer.

* * *

"Hey, you know what would be fun?" said Michoru. 

"What?" asked Magora.

"Let's go spy on the guys!"

"I don't think that's a very good idea," said Hikari.

"Oh, come on!" said Michoru as she stood up. "If you don't want to go, I'll go by myself. But you know they're going to do the same thing!"

"I doubt it," said Magora.

* * *

"Hey, you know what would be fun?" said Suzaku. 

"What?" asked Akazu.

"Let's go spy on the girls!"

"Are you kidding me?" said Kite. "They'd kill us if we got caught doing that!"

"Then we won't get caught," said Suzaku.

"...Stupid," said Odysseus, rising from beneath the surface.

"Come on!" said Suzaku. "You know you want to!"

"You're really sick," said Kojiru.

"Fine! Be that way!" said Suzaku, storming off.

"He's going to get his ass kicked," said Kenji dismissively as he lowered his head beneath the water.

"Is it really that bad?" asked Minotaur.

"You don't know what Michoru is like," said Kite.

"She's nice and all, but when she gets pissed off something usually breaks," said Akazu.

* * *

Suzaku ran in the direction of the girls' hot spring. 

_The other guys will be missing out, _he thought as he began to anticipate what he would find when he got to the hot spring. Wrapped in his thoughts, he didn't notice the tall figure in front of him and crashed headlong into something soft. He fell backwards and looked up at a female silhouette. When he focused in on it, he noticed the orange hair, the silver moon on the forehead.

_Oh, shit._

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" screamed Michoru as she stared down at Suzaku.

"I could ask you the same thing," said Suzaku, standing up.

Michoru turned a shade of crimson.

"Uh, I..." she said, trying to come up with an excuse. "I... I... uh, um, I was...trying to find a bathroom!"

"There aren't any bathrooms in The World, Michoru," said Suzaku. "We're the only ones that need them."

"Oh, yeah," said Michoru. "I was..."

"Just admit it," said Suzaku. "You were going to spy on us."

"It's not like you were planning on doing something else!" cried Michoru, turning even redder.

"Oh, right..." said Suzaku, now also turning red.

There was a long, awkward silence.

"Well, I'd best be going," said Suzaku.

"Me too," said Michoru, and they ran in opposite directions.

* * *

"Ah," said Magora, "this is so relaxing. 

"I know," said Hikari.

Magora stood up and picked up the wooden bucket, scooping up some water with it. She poured the hot water over her head.

"That's good," said Suzaku to himself from the bushes. "Now, just move the towel..."

Suddenly, something caught his leg and he fell over, making loud crashing noises. The girls were alert and looked at the bushes.

"Who's there?" cried Magora into the bushes.

Suzaku remained silent. Maybe they would think he was a stray grunty. Hikari stood up and walked over to the bushes, holding her towel to her side suspiciously. She looked into the bushes and saw Suzaku sitting there.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE?" she screamed.

"Uh, I was checking to make sure you weren't attacked!" he lied. "Job well done! Continue relaxing now!"

He stood up to leave, but she grabbed Suzaku's shoulder..

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" she screamed, her nails digging into Suzaku's shoulder.

"What are you going to do with me?" he asked fearfully.

"Magora," said Hikari. "Give me my swords, please."

"Oh, shit."

* * *

Odysseus suddenly stood up. 

"Enemies," he said.

Shocked, everyone stood up and looked around.

"I don't see anyone," said Kenji.

Odysseus grabbed his gun from the edge of the hot spring and shot it into the bushes with a loud crack. The boys ran to where he fired and found the dead body of a rabbit with a bleeding bullet hole in it's head.

"Dude!" screamed Kite. "That is just wrong!"

"Apologies," said Odysseus. "Unintended consequence. Purposeful miss to shock tracker."

"What?" asked Kojiru, who had no idea what the robot kid was saying. Minotaur tapped his shoulder and pointed to the space of ground next to the rabbit. Michoru was sitting there, curled up in a shocked little ball pointing at the dead rabbit.

"You killed the bunny," she said.

Suddenly, everyone realized what she had been doing. There was a brief pause as everyone thought about what to do. Akazu spoke up first.

"I am going to kick your ass."

* * *

A woman in blue sat on a chair, a boy in green before her. 

"Lucky Doki," said the boy in green. "He gets to go to the hot springs. How come I never get to go to the hot springs?"

"Ugh, shut up!" said the woman in blue. "I'm sick of your whining! You always say how much you wish you could do something and never take any steps towards doing it!"

The boy in green rolled his eyes and was about to leave when a man in yellow appeared.

"Senbou," said the man in yellow. "You've failed. We've just received reports from Doki that the bracelet holders are still alive."

* * *

"I must tell you something," said Odysseus. 

"What is it?" asked Kite.

"Odysseus is not my name. I am Doki, one of the Seven Hackers of Hades, and the embodiment of all fury!"

The boys stared in shock.

"You..." said Kenji. "You deceived us!"

"Yes, well I have orders to destroy you," said Doki, bored. "So come, the Machinator: Gorre!"

He grabbed a red sphere from next to his gun and raised it in the air. Before them appeared two great, stone slabs with glowing orange eyes and huge, sharp teeth.

"Buh-bye!" said Doki, gating out.

"We can take it!" said Akazu aggressively.

"No!" said Kite. "We have to run! We can fight it later!"

"Fine..."

"Michoru!" cried Kenji. "Go get Magora and Suzaku and make sure they run!"

"All right!" said Michoru.

She ran away to get the others and Kite held out his bracelet. He shot the air before him and the three were warped away.

* * *

"Well, great," said Suzaku when they returned to the hideout. "Just tap dancing great." 

"Yeah," said Kite. "But at least, now we know that every Hacker of Hades controls one of the Eight Phases that the .hackers defeated."

"Senbou controls Skeith," said Akazu.

"And Doki controls Gorre," finished Magora.

"But, that can't be it," said Michoru.

"Why not?" asked Kenji.

"Because," said Michoru, "there were Eight Phases: Skeith, Innis, Magus, Fidchell, Gorre, Macha, Tarvos and Corbenik. But Doki and Senbou both said that there were only seven Hackers of Hades."

"It just means that they have a leader," said Magora. "Someone more powerful than any of them."

* * *

WHOA! EXCITING! My next chapter's going to be really good, I feel it! So keep reading! 


	11. Chapter 10: Epitaph

Hello all! I'm back with chapter ten of .hack/curse! Isn't it exciting! I bet you're all shaking from the excitement! (...ok, probably not, but I can dream, can't I?)

Anyway, I would just like to thank all of my lovely reviewers! You guys are what keep this story going! I love you all! In fact, I love you all so much, I will actually respond to your reviews in my author's note!

Puppyguy13: Thank you! Good thing he was a guy... I was a bit worried there. I should have mentioned that if you submit characters to put their genders. Anyway, thanks for the review!

The New Shinigami Hikari: Thanks for the review, and yes, you did hurt someone. But he deserved it, the little bastard!

Rayne: Thanks for all the great ideas! I will use your character in upcoming chapters, though in this chapter no submitted characters appear. I'll also use your event if I can figure out where to fit it in, though I might modify it slightly to make it work better.

Lady Tzahra: A little more review, a little less random Fruits Basket stuff, okey dokey?

Magical Girl Pretty Sammy Chan: Thanks for a great review! And if you want to use my characters as cameos in your story, go right ahead. It's an honor to have a character featured in your story!

Now, as you probably already know, I don't own .hack. But I do own all the games, the entire series on DVD (In English AND Japanese), .hack/AI Buster volumes 1 and 2, .hack/legend of the twilight in Japanese, a Tsukasa cosplay outfit (that I made myself) and a grunty plushy. No, I'm not a .hack/sign fan at all!

Now I'll finish my lengthy author's note by saying that this chapter is REALLY HEAVY with the information. Don't be surprised if you find yourself bored, but keep reading because it gets good at the end. It was just that if I didn't postwhat I knew about the Eight Phases on the internet I was going to have to shoot someone. (No submitted characters here, just to warn you)So, here we go!

* * *

CHAPTER 10 

EPITAPH

Kite opened his email and found he had a new email.It was from someone named Wiseman.

_Bracelet Holder_

_I have information about the Eight Phases that were defeated by the .hackers. If you can bring me the Rod of Necromancy from Theta: Dying Bloody Fallen Angel I will tell you what I know. When you have the wand, meet me in the area Theta: Destructive Crimson Cross._

Kite logged into The World and saw his friends waiting by the chaos gate.

"Did you get the mail from Wiseman?" asked Michoru.

"Yeah," said Kite. "Let's go to Theta: Dying Bloody Fallen Angel."

The party arrived in an ugly field. The ground was dark and dry and there was no vegetation anywhere.

"Ugh," said Magora. "This place needs to be refurbished."

Suddenly, the screen began flashing with white noise and a Data Bug appeared. It took the form of a giant beetle surrounded by a strange green aura.

"Data Bug!" cried Michoru.

"Let's get it!" said Akazu, brandishing his axe.

"Juk Rom!" cried Kite, but the attack didn't do any damage.

"It has a magic tolerance!" said Suzaku. "Concentrate on healing!"

"Ok!"

"Revolver!"

"Repulse Cage!"

"Brandish!"

"Tiger Claws!"

"Hayabusa!"

The attacks hit full-force, but the Data Bug retaliated by smashing its horn into the party.

"La Repth!" cried Kite, healing his comrades.

The party charged in for another round of attacks, but were just blown back again by the beetle's horn. Kite healed them again, but they kept getting thrown back by the beast.

"Dammit..." said Kite. "What are we supposed to do?"

* * *

"Senbou!"

"What?"

"Tarvos won't listen to me!"

"So? What do you want me to do about it!"

"He always liked you better!"

"So?"

"So, you can have Tarvos and I'll take Skeith."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because if you don't, he'll turn on us and you'll get blamed."

"Humph... Fine then."

* * *

"Data Drain!"

**Rod of Necromancy was found!**

The party killed the drained bug with little effort.

"Nice," said Kite. "We got the Rod of Necromancy. Let's go meet Wiseman."

As soon as they arrived in Destructive Crimson Cross, they noticed that it was not a normal area. It was a large stone room with various patterns carved into the walls. There were strange letters among pictures. Already there was a male Wavemaster with dark skin and white hair waiting for them.

"I'm glad you could make it," said the Wavemaster. "I'm Wiseman. Did you bring the item I asked?"

"Yes," said Kite, handing him the Rod of Necromancy. He equipped the item and began his speech.

"Now, you're probably wondering why I asked you here," said Wiseman. "Look around at this area. Look closely at that picture on the wall."

Kite leaned closely to see the picture and gasped when he saw that it was Skeith. Along the wall there was also Gorre, the phase that Doki had summoned at the hot springs.

"The Eight Phases," said Wiseman. "They were originally programmed into the game by Harald Hoerwick in order to collect data on human emotions. They were each assigned a specific task and they would transfer their collected data to Aura in order to make her into the ultimate AI. When their job was complete, they would awaken the sleeping Aura. Morganna, the God of The World, was assigned to take care of the sleeping Aura until she would awaken. However, she realized that if Aura were to awaken, then Morganna's task would be complete and she would become obsolete and subsequently destroyed. She turned against Aura and reprogrammed the Eight Phases so that they would work for her in ensuring that Aura would never wake up."

"What were the jobs assigned to each phase?" asked Michoru.

"Well, like I said, each phase was assigned a different task," said Wiseman. "Skeith, also known as the Terror of Death, was assigned to collect data on human reaction to death as an inevitability. The Second Phase, Innis, Mirage of Deceit, was assigned to collect data on how humans reacted to lies and deceit. Phase Three Magus, the Propagation, was assigned to collect data on human reproduction and the need to reproduce in order to preserve itself. Fidchell, the Prophet, was assigned to collect data on the human reaction to the concept of an inescapable fate. The Fifth Phase, Gorre, the Machinator, was assigned to collect data on the cruelty of the human race. Phase Six, the Temptress, Macha, was designed to record data on human affection. Mainly she was intended to record data on unrequited love. The Seventh Phase, Tarvos, the Avenger, was designed to record data on human envy, revenge, hatred, and other dark emotions. The Final Phase, Corbenik, the Rebirth, was designed for three tasks. He takes three forms, and his first form, a seed, collects data on human attachment to life. The second form, a leaf, collects data on the human attraction to death. His final form, an eye formed from a petal, collects data on the pure heart that is born again and again."

The room was silent for a moment. There was a lot of information to digest.

"So, all of this was written in the Epitaph of Twilight?" asked Kite.

"Yes," said Wiseman. "The Epitaph of Twilight was written by Emma Wielant. However, she died before it was completed. Harald was in love with Emma, and decided to honor her by programming The World based on her poem. Harald created Aura and tried to make her into the ultimate, most human AI. He was trying to create a daughter that he could never have."

"How were the Eight Phases worked into the Epitaph?" asked Kenji.

"The first two stanzas of the Epitaph are:

_Unknown where the Cursed Wave was born...  
After the stars doth cross the heavens...  
The sky in the East doth darken.  
And air doth fills with mourning.  
From the chosen land beyond the forest,  
A sign of the Wave comes.  
Riding the Wave is: Skeith, the Shadow of Death,  
to drown all that stands.  
Mirage of Deceit, Innis,  
Betray all with the flawed image,  
and did aid the Wave.  
And by the Power of Magus,  
a drop from the Wave doth reach the heavens,  
and creates a new Wave._

_With the Wave, Fidchell,  
the power to tell the dark future,  
hope darkens, sadness and despair rule.  
Gorre schemes when swallowed by the Cursed Wave.  
Macha seduces with the sweet trap.  
Wave reaches the Pinnacle, and escape none can.  
Tarvos still remains with more cruelty to punish and destroy.  
And with the turbulent destruction after the Wave.  
Only a void remains.  
From deep within the void arrives Corbenik_."

"I don't quite get it," said Suzaku.

"Let me explain," said Wiseman. "The beginning describes the world's physical reaction to the wave coming. The lines 'the sky in the east doth darken and the air doth fills with mourning' are meant to show that the wave is a terrible thing. Then the wave itself actually comes. It shows that Skeith is the first to appear, and he makes the first strike. Then Innis appears and aids the cursed wave by deceiving all that are left with falsehoods. Then, when the wave is weakening, Magus appears and he takes a drop from the wave. He takes it to the skies and reproduces a new wave, hence his name The Propagation. Fidchell appears and tells all remaining that only more killing is to come. The phrase 'hope darkens' means that his prophecy was accepted as truth and people no longer have any hope to cling to. Then Gorre appears and begins planning a cruel punishment to strike the people with. Macha then comes and makes everyone fall in love with her even though she isn't really in love with them. The wave reaches its full strength, and then Tarvos appears. His dark emotions fuel him to finish the destruction. Afterward, nothing remains of the world except a void. Then, from the ashes, Corbenik is born."

"So, wait," said Magora. "You're telling me that unless we do something then the whole world will be destroyed?"

"Yes," said Wiseman. "And since the Eight Phases are back, you have to kill them before they can produce a second wave."

"But, the thing is," said Akazu, "even if we destroy a phase, then the hacker who controlled them will still be alive. What do we do then?"

"Excuse me?" asked Wiseman, confused.

"OK, well, here's the story," said Michoru. "We've been being hunted down by some hackers who call themselves the Hackers of Hades. Each one of their members controls one of the Eight Phases. We've only met two of them. There was Senbou, who controls Skeith, and Doki, who controls Gorre."

"I see," said Wiseman. "Well, because that is the case, you will probably have to destroy the hacker his or herself. It may even help you if you destroy the hacker before you destroy the phase, because chances are if these hackers are powerful enough to tame the Eight Phases then they are probably powerful enough to resurrect them."

* * *

"Senbou! Skeith won't listen to me either!"

"I really don't care. If you can't get either to get what you want them to, then give them both to me and don't do anything. You're too lazy to do anything to the bracelet holders anyway."

"Well, fine then, be that way. I'll just destroy them myself."

"Yeah, sure you will, buddy."

* * *

"Well, I'm afraid that all the information that I have is used up," said Wiseman. "I'll contact you whenever I have new information. Don't forget to contact me if you ever need help with anything."

He gave them his member address and warped out of the dungeon. The party soon followed after, logging out for the night.

* * *

"Where are you going, Inyoku?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

"None of your business, Senbou."

"Well, it is if you don't want me to report you."

"You snake."

"So, where are you headed?"

"Delta Server."

"Why?"

"There's someone I have to meet."

"Who?"

"..."

"Tell me, Inyoku. It's for your own good."

"I'm going to see one of the bracelet holders."

"Which one?"

"Doesn't matter, as long as it's a guy."

"Oh, I get it. Who said you could do that?"

"Who said I couldn't? Besides, you and Doki both messed up so it's my turn."

"Bushou said he wanted to try."

"Bushou's a weakling, so sorry to say."

"He's not, he's actually an accomplished hacker, despite his age. He's just so lazy."

"That's his flaw. He can't even control a phase."

"It's because he tries such strong ones. First, he demanded Tarvos. Then he tried Skeith, and now I hear he's trying to get Doki to give him Gorre."

"Bushou is rash, isn't he?"

"He is indeed. Are you going to be late for your meeting?"

"How should I know? I don't actually have a meeting. I'm just bumming around town until one shows up."

"Oh. Well you'd better get going."

"Yeah. Promise you won't rat me out?"

"Can't make any guarantees."

"I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual."

* * *

When Kite logged in the next day, no one was at the Chaos Gate. He began to walk around town and soon saw Suzaku talking to a young girl. The girl had black hair falling down her back to her waist and a strapless black dress that ended just before her ankles. On her feet were high-heeled boots and covering her arms were black gloves. The two were laughing and seemed to be having a good time. Kite almost walked over to them but stopped himself, waiting for Suzaku to finish the conversation. When they were finished, they broke apart and Kite walked over to Suzaku.

"Who was that?" asked Kite, watching the girl leave.

"Her? That's Fleur," he said. "She stopped me on the street and she seemed nice so I started talking to her."

"You seemed to be having a good time," said Kite.

"We were," said Suzaku. "She was really nice. She gave me her member address. I'll probably use it a lot. She has a really unique character class."

"What was it?" asked Kite.

"It was something she called a Wind Weaver." said Suzaku. "Her weapon was a paper fan. I've never seen a weapon like that before. She told me she got it at an event."

Kite was shocked.

"Suzaku," said Kite. "I'm not sure how I should tell you this, but I think that Fleur's a Hacker of Hades."

"What?" asked Suzaku.

"She has a weird character class," said Kite. "And she said she got it at an event. You were there at the boy's hot spring with Doki, remember? He had a gun as his weapon, and he said he got it at an event."

"So?" said Suzaku, indignant. "Just because someone has a different class doesn't mean they're a hacker. Look at that girl over there."

He pointed to a girl that had a strange, long weapon on her back.

"Suzaku, that's just a Long Arm with a rare weapon!"

"Whatever!" said Suzaku, raising his voice. "Not all of them had unique classes! What about Senbou? He was a Wavemaster!"

"Suzaku!" said Kite. "Don't get so upset! It's just a possibility!"

"No, it isn't!" screamed Suzaku. "There's no way someone like her could be a hacker! You're just saying that because you're jealous that I have a new friend!"

"What!" said Kite, on the verge of screaming. "Why the hell would I be jealous of a dried-up old hag like that! And another thing, Suzaku! You need to grow the hell up! You say I'm jealous of someone just because I'm worried! You heard what Wiseman said about Macha! She's the Temptress, Suzaku, and I'll bet my right hand you're just playing into her trap! Fleur's name isn't really Fleur, it's probably something else, and she's probably the one pulling the strings of the Macha puppet! If you can't accept it as plain fact that she's probably not the kind of person you should hang around with, then you should just keep her company and leave us alone! It's not like you've ever done anything for us! We always do the work while you just slack off! No one wants you around them, especially not us! Why don't you just stop playing the game for good! Why don't you just go away and give up your Bracelet!"

* * *

Whoa! They are PISSED! I guess you'll have to read on to see how the whole thing resolves itself!

REVIEW!


	12. Chapter 11: Temptress

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I'll be honest: I haven't felt like working on this fanfiction lately. I've been spending my time working on Flash animations and playing Tales of Legendia and Tales of Symphonia. But regardless, here is the next chapter.

Now, sorry for poor grammar at the end of the last chapter. For some reason, doesn't allow a ? followed by a ! or vise versa, and, not realizing this, I did that many times, so as a result the ?got cut of and question sentences ended with a ! instead of a ?

Now, I forgot to mention this, but my last chapter was my anniversary update. Yes, I started writing this fanfiction in March 2005. I just didn't upload it untilSeptember.

I'd like to take the time to reply to all of my reviewers! I love you all! Except for you, Haka. You bother me. Anyway, replies:

Rayne: Wow, you left a lot of reviews! Half of them didn't even pertain to the story! Oh, well. Thanks a lot for standing up to Haka for me.

Lady Tzarah: Again, enough with the Furuba yaoi! But thanks for standing up to Haka.

anonimious: Huh?

james: Thanks! I want to make him have some new powers, I just don't know what yet.

The New Shinigami Hikari: Yep, they sure are!

Steeple333: It did, right?

Puppyguy13: OK, more is here!

Magical Girl Pretty Sammy-Chan: Thanks for the review!

Haka: Go away! If you don't like the story, don't read it! I'm not holding a gun to your head here! Flames are immature and unhelpful. And worse yet, not only did you rudely and openly express your distaste for this story, but you actually read through the whole thing and flamed it multiple times!Besides, I'd like to see you do better.If you hate the story, close the window and find something to do with your life other than unfairly judge other people's fanfiction!

Anyway, I still don't own .hack/sign.

Oh, and I have a cookie question for you all. If you can find the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time reference in this chapter, I will give you a special prize. (Not sure what yet, but whatever)

You will also likely notice some Tales of Symphonia references if you've played the game through. I've had Tales ofSymphonia controlling my brain lately and so when I realized that Skeith had an attack called Judgment and **SPOILER **Mithos **SPOILER OVER **also had an attack called Judgment, I decided to give Senbou some of his attacks. Oh, and if you didn't read the spoiler, no, the person mentioned is NOTColette.

Now, I will end this lengthy Author's Note by saying that if you think that this story is too realistic while playing online, then go read something else because this WILL NOT change. I purposefully blurred the line between reality and the online world.

* * *

CHAPTER 11 

TEMPTRESS

Kite didn't hear anything from Suzaku for two and a half weeks after what happened in Mac Anu, and decided to keep it that way. Suzaku was being a big baby and Kite didn't want to deal with that at the time. He figured that Suzaku would come back when he was ready. In the meantime, he and the other Bracelet holders had been leveling up and looking for information on the Hackers of Hades. While on the message boards, he came across a thread about an event. It didn't give many details, just that it took place in Delta: Hidden Forested Cove. He thought it might be worth looking at so he contacted the rest of the party informing them of the event.

He met them by the Chaos Gate and prepared to enter the keywords when he noticed that no one looked very happy.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Suzaku..." Akazu muttered.

Kite rolled his eyes and warped to the area.

When the party arrived in the area, they found themselves in a bright green meadow that stretched in all directions. Upon using a Fairy's Orb the party realized that there were no portals or a dungeon entrance.

"Just what kind of event is this?" asked Kenji.

"Hey!" they heard a voice call from across the field.

The party turned around and saw another party of four people. As they approached they recognized three of them, Hikari, Minotaur, and Kojiru, but the fourth one was new to them. She had short, teal hair and teal eyes. Her shirt was white, almost lacy and exposed a small amount of her stomach, matching her knee-length white shorts that ended in three layers of ruffles. She wore white sandals with strips of fabric rapping up her ankles. On her arms she had teal stripes that wrapped from her wrists up to her elbows. On her back rested a large sword.

_She's cute,_ thought Akazu, eyeing the heavy blade. She opened her mouth to speak and Akazu expected to hear a soft, faint voice meet his ears.

"Hi, " she said, her voice loud and low. Akazu winced a little bit. "I'm Pixie."

Everyone introduced themselves to her.

"So, do you actually know what's going on here?" asked Michoru.

"Not really," said Hikari.

They suddenly heard the sound of a warp behind them and turned around to look at the new entrant in the event. It was Suzaku and Fleur. They were both laughing hysterically, apparently one of them had just told a joke. As Suzaku looked up and saw Kite, he quickly frowned and grabbed Fleur's hand.

"Let's go," he said, beginning to walk away. As they were leaving, Fleur looked back at them and smirked. She and Suzaku warped out of the area. Suddenly, there was a loud crash and everything went black.

When Kite awoke, he found himself wet. He opened his eyes and sat up. He was in a large area filled with mist. The ground was entirely covered in water. In the center of the area was a dead-looking tree missing all of its leaves. Kite stood up, leaning on his staff, and advanced toward the center of the area. As he began his trek, he heard footsteps sloshing around in the water. He raised his staff, preparing for assault. Michoru advanced from the mist.

"Kite!" she screamed, running toward him. "There you are! I was so worried!"

"Uh, are you feeling OK?" asked Kite.

"I'm fine!" she said joyously. "I'm fine since I know you're OK!"

There were other footsteps approaching the two, and another Michoru appeared.

"What the hell?" Kite said confused.

A booming voice rang out through the entire area.

"One of these is your real friend," said the voice. "Another is an imposter. You must choose which one you will kill."

"Oh, don't kill me!" shrieked the first one, grinning.

"Oh, it's OK if you kill me," said the other one, sighing and looking to the ground sadly. "I understand..."

Kite rolled his eyes.

"Oh, brother."

He lifted his staff and pointed it towards the area in between the girls.

"Juk Rom!"

The tornado struck both Michorus at the same time, killing them both. As their blackened bodies fell to the ground, slugs crawled out of them and they vanished. The slugs melted into black ooze.

"Ew..." said Kite. The black puddle of goo began to move and formed a large building with a door in it. Kite opened the door, seeing nothing but darkness. Taking one last look at the room, he stepped through the door.

When he reached the other room, Michoru, Akazu, Kenji and Magora were waiting. It was a small, dark, stone chamber with no windows and only one door. Soon, Hikari, Kojiru, Minotaur and Pixie joined them.

"How'd you guys make out?" asked Kenji.

"OK, I guess," said Kojiru. "Wasn't really that hard, though."

"Yeah, everyone was acting really weird," said Hikari. "It was totally obvious that they were both fake. I completed the event with flying colors!"

Pixie rolled her eyes and sat on the floor next to Akazu. The others followed. Soon, they began to hear footsteps. A figure could be seen entering the door.

"Get out!" cried the figure. As it entered the light it revealed itself to be Balmung of the Azure Sky.

"LA!" cried Pixie, standing up, holding her low note. Balmung covered his ears.

"How many times must I say this? I'm not a system admin anymore!" cried Balmung.

Pixie rolled her eyes but stopped singing. Everyone else looked at them strangely.

"Anyway," said Balmung, "you need to get out of here! This isn't an event! It's a trap!"

"Very good."

A figure emerged from the door, holding a staff and wearing all green.

"Senbou!" cried Kite.

"You know this guy?" asked Minotaur.

"Yeah," said Michoru.

"What do you want?" asked Akazu, raising his axe.

"Just thought I'd tell you how much fun Inyoku is having with your little friend," he said. "Looks like you're going to have one less teammate from now on. He seems to like her a lot more than he does you."

"You shut up!" said Kenji, brandishing his sword.

"What? I'm only stating what's true," said Senbou. "And if you deny that, you're hiding from the obvious."

"You're really starting to piss me off!" said Kite.

"What do I care?" said Senbou. "Your nothing more than an insignificant worm anyway."

"If I'm so insignificant, how come I've been destroying your data bugs? If I'm so insignificant, why are you sending hacker after hacker after me?"

"Because you're in my way," said Senbou. "And that's not something I can allow!"

He closed his eyes and began to glow, a grey flow of energy shooting outward from his body. He raised his staff high in the air.

"Gravity Well!"

A black dome of energy rose around them while they looked around in panic. A crushing force of gravity struck them from above, crushing them under their own weight. When the dome finally disappeared, everyone was on the ground.

"Heh... weaklings," said Senbou, turning around.

"You... bastard..."

"Huh?"

Kite and the others were forcing themselves up, prepared to attack.

"La Repth..." said Kite, restoring everyone's health.

"How could you survive?" screamed Senbou in frustration.

"You underestimate me," said Kite.

"Damn..." said Senbou under his breath. "Fine then!"

He began to glow again, but this time with pale blue energy.

"Absolute!"

A star of ice erupted from the ground, piercing them with spears of frost. The star then exploded, leaving everyone on their knees, but alive.

"I'm still here..." said Kite.

"Argh!" cried Senbou in frustration. "I've had enough of this!"

Feathers of light soared around his body. White light was erupting from his body.

"Judgment!"

Beams of light struck all around the room, hitting everyone multiple times and leaving them all with one hit point.

"That ought to teach you," said Senbou. "Don't get in my way again!"

He warped away, leaving the others in silence. Soon, they gated out and returned to Root Town.

"What is going on?" asked Kojiru once they had returned to the hideout. They told the entire story, from Aura giving them the bracelet to Skeith Data Draining Kenji to Inyoku seducing Suzaku. There was silence for a moment when Hikari stood up.

"Well, it's late, I've gotta go," she said. "But you can ask for my help whenever you need it."

She warped away and Minotaur, Kojiru and Pixie all followed.

"What are we going to do about Suzaku?" asked Michoru once the others had left.

"What about him?" asked Kite.

"Oh, come on!" she shouted. "Kite, if we don't help him he could be seriously hurt!"

"I know..." said Kite softly. "But what can we do? He won't listen to any of us. And I still haven't forgiven him yet."

"That's not the point!" screamed Magora. "It doesn't matter if you've forgiven him or not! He's your friend and he's in danger!"

Kite looked down at the ground.

"But he won't listen to any of us," said Kite.

"We'll make him listen," said Akazu, standing up. "That girl is evil and I know it. If he won't listen to us, we'll cut her apart and feed her to a dog!"

"O...K..." said Kenji slowly.

Akazu rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean!" he said.

"So what do we do?" asked Kite.

"I have an idea," said Magora. She pointed her bracelet toward herself.

"What are you doing?" cried Kenji.

"Relax," she said. She fired the bracelet at herself, and was engulfed in a bright light. When it cleared, her character design had been completely altered.

"See?" she said. "This way, we can get close to Suzaku without him knowing it's us."

Catching on to the idea, the rest of them altered their character data, Kite modifying Kenji's because of Kenji's lack of a bracelet. When they were finished, the completely different looking group began to search the Root Towns in search of Suzaku.

"We'll all go to a different Server," announced Kite. "And send the others an email if you find him."

The group split up, Magora going to Delta Server, Akazu to Theta Server, Michoru to Lambda Server, Kenji to Sigma Server, and Kite to Omega Server. Kite arrived in a place built on rolling hills, with dirt pathways and a gray sky lit up by a gigantic orange moon. Lanterns on poles stood on the sides of the roads. Kite didn't get long to explore because he received an email from Magora saying she had found Suzaku.

Kite and the others gathered at the Chaos Gate and ran to where Magora said she'd found Suzaku.

"Hey," said Kite casually.

"Hey," said Suzaku. "I'm Suzaku."

"I'm... uh..." it was at this point that they realized that they had forgotten to pick new names. Kite mentally smacked himself and blurted out the first name he could think of. "Hideki! Wanna go to a dungeon?" he asked.

"Sure," said Suzaku. "This is my friend Fleur."

"Pleased to meet you," she said with poison in her voice.

"I'm Lotus," said Michoru. Kite was somewhat surprised that power-house Michoru would pick the name of a flower, but didn't think much of it.

"I'm Yue," said Magora.

"I'm Zephyr," said Akazu. Kite looked at him sideways for a moment, but redirected his attention to Kenji.

"I'm Ken!" he said.

If this had been anime, this would have been the part where you insert the "come crashing down onto floor with feet sticking up into the air".

"Alright, let's go," said Suzaku, advancing towards the Chaos Gate. He put in a random keyword and they were off.

The party advanced through the dungeon quickly, gaining enough experience to advance to Level 16. They reached the Gott Statue and the group knew it was time to execute their plan.

"Gan Zot!" cried Kite, raising his staff. Large spikes of earth shot up from the ground and blocked the door.

"What are you doing?" cried Suzaku.

Magora brandished her spear.

"Shut up," she said to Suzaku.

She ran forward toward Fleur and shoved her spear into Fleur's chest. There was no scream, she just opened her mouth in shock. She stood there for a moment, then fell backwards and tumbled into the pit behind the treasure chest.

"Fleur!" cried Suzaku, reaching into the pit. Tears rolled down his face. "Fleur, no!"

He turned towards the party.

"You bastards!"

He ran towards Magora with his blades outstretched, but his attack was blocked by Michoru.

"Forget it," she said. "You're outnumbered."

"Why did you do it?" he screamed. "Why'd you kill her?"

"For your own good," said Kite.

He and the others restored their normal character designs.

"What?" Suzaku cried. "You did this just because you were jealous?"

"That's not it at all!" cried Kite.

"Yes it is!" cried Suzaku.

"No, it isn't," said a female voice. Behind them Fleur was rising from the pit on a pair of blue wings.

"Fleur!" Suzaku cried with joy. He ran forward and wrapped his arms around her. She pushed him off and held out her hand. He rose into the air and his hands and feet were trapped by balls of light.

"This is what the Temptress does," said Fleur. "Fools men into loving her then stabs them in the back."

She began glowing with the same colored energy that had surrounded Senbou, only this time it was red. She grabbed one of her fans and directed the energy into it.

"Blade of Betrayal!" she said, swiping with the fan and shooting a stream of red energy toward Suzaku. He closed his eyes, preparing for the impact. A loud scream shattered the air, but it came from a voice that did not belong to Suzaku. He opened his eyes and saw Kite's limp body sprawled across the ground. There was another scream and this time it was Suzaku. The balls of light around his limbs dispersed and he held Kite's weak body in his arms. He shook him slightly, trying to wake him up, but he wasn't breathing.

"Pity he got in the way," said Fleur, waving her fan.

Suzaku was shaking with anger. His rage built up inside of him, boiling over like water in a pot. His eyes turned bright red and a blazing aura of fire surrounded him. In his clenched fists a pair of twin swords composed of flames appeared. Fangs grew where his teeth were.

"How amusing," said Fleur. "Let's see if you can handle-"

She never got to finish her sentence, because Suzaku appeared behind her and drove one of his flaming swords into her back. She staggered around, but Suzaku gave her no time to recover. He ran toward her and slashed his sword upward, dragging her into the air. He disappeared, and then immediately reappeared over her and somersaulted in the air, blades outstretched. He brought her to the ground, where a red circle appeared underneath her. He stood up, and bright colored lights rose up from inside the circle and struck Fleur. He rose into the air and held his swords high above his head. Rings of red energy flowed around the blades and an image of his face painted all in red appeared on the screen briefly. He brought the blades down on her, sending waves of energy in four directions and creating an enormous burst of energy outward. More colored lights shot up from beneath him as Fleur fell to the ground. Suzaku, weary and beat, fell to the ground in unconsciousness. Time passed and Fleur forced herself off the ground.

"This...isn't over..." she said weakly. "I'll be back... and one more thing... My name is Inyoku."

She disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

Ooooo, intriguing. I don't know what will happen next chapter, so ideas would be lovely.


	13. Hiatus message

Dear all readers and fans,

Right now I've got no ideas for this story. None. Not a one. I've tried to think of stuff, but it just hasn't worked. I can't seem to get myself to write this story right now.

I'm sorry, but I'm putting this on a temporary hiatus.

The keyword being TEMPORARY.

I'll be back as soon as some ideas come in. Sorry to disappoint you all.

I'll be back soon.

-Kite1763


	14. A proposition

OK, well I decided that I really wanted to work on this story a little bit more. But after reading it through again, I realized that I made a lot of mistakes and that there were a lot of things to improve in the story. So I decided that if I were going to continue the story, I'd rewrite it from start to finish.

If you think it's a good idea, leave a review, and if I get enough, then I'll do it.


End file.
